Hero of Time: The Boy in Emerald Green
by BleachedredViolet
Summary: When darkening forces threaten to overthrow the Hyrulian king, a young hero rises from the forests of the Kokiri. Meanwhile, the princess of Hyrule is awaiting the arrival of a legendary stranger. A prophecy is about to unfold! R&R, updated Sundays.
1. Prologue: A dream, a prophecy

Prologue: A Dream, a Prophecy

"Shadow and Light are two sides of the same coin...One cannot exist without the other."

-Princess Zelda

Dark clouds crossed the sky.

I found myself in a world of darkness. I couldn't see anything around me, although I could sense that the air was thick with the moisture of a brewing storm. A great rumbling reached my ears from far off in the distance, and lightning strikes flashed, highlighting the world in a dark shadow. The cold night stretched on and on, illuminated only by slightly lighter blocks of shapes far off in the distance that could be seen after each blinding flash. The earth around me was unsteady and unpredictable, seeming to disintegrate below my feet as I stood. Stepping forward, I blindly attempted to locate stable ground in the pitch black. The soft touch of bending grass beneath my feet confirmed that I was standing in a field of some sort. Around me was nothing but empty air, heavy with the burden of gloomy shadows. It played about my face, cackling in soft echoes throughout my ears, and brushing against my skin in icy wafts.

Squinting, I turned my gaze towards the horizon, where a pale moon was inching up over the distant hills. It gave off a waxy glow, drowning the world in a shadow of dim grey. The faint light that it produced fell upon the shapes in the distance, making them decipherable amongst the darkness. They seemed to be crumbling buildings of an old civilization: faint, murky, and lifeless. I stared at them for a long time, wondering what exactly they had been in the golden age of this forgotten world. In a strange sense, I felt as if I recognized them.

It was only then that I realized that this dying place was the land of Hyrule.

Hyrule. Glorious, powerful, free Hyrule. My homeland. My world. My life. Was this all that it had succumbed to? Instinctively, my head curved towards the heavens in grief, and I silently prayed to the Gods for the sake of this barren land. A growing storm distracted my gaze. In the clouds was a world of hatred, pain and suffering. It seemed to be laughing at my pitiful state, and the fate of this weak land. It tormented me as I stood so slightbelow it. I could hear its taunts, laced upon the breath of the wind that danced about my face. A crystal tear escaped my eyelid, and was stolen away by a gust of the storm. The taunting, then, grew even louder, and the sound began to take the shape of the deep voice of a man. A profound, intense hatred suddenly built up from deep inside the pit of my stomach, threatening to burst from my lips in a scream. I hated that man. I hated what he was doing to my beautiful kingdom. I hated the fact that I, Princess Zelda, had done nothing to stop him. What was wrong with me?

It was then that I swallowed back my tears, and rose my chin up higher in determination. I realized that all was now over. Hyrule was lost, and the last parts of it were left for only me to overlook. I took a step forward, unwavering now as the confidence in my actions grew. I could hear the world being swallowed up behind me as I took step after step towards the gloomy horizon. I was the source of light in this doomed place. I was all that was left, and every step I took drew me closer to the end of it all. An end with no future, only a cruel, evil death. Hyrule, my home, was shattering before me, and nothing that I could do would have the power to stop it. I shut my eyes, and continued marching towards the last of anything. I waited for the moment when my next step would strike upon no ground, and I would fall into a great gaping chasm, to my death. But first, I decided, I would be strong in my final moments. I would honor my country, my father: The King of Hyrule, and this magnificent, beautiful world that I had lived in. I would leave this life in nobility, in respect of everything that I believed in. This was how it would all end.

With each step the laughter grew louder. The darkness had begun to overwhelm me, licking my face and forcing me down like the violent spray of an ocean wave. Every step I took was harder and slower, the clothes upon my back beginning to feel like a burden. When, finally, the fatigue was too much, I threw my eyes up again and saw the source of the laughter. A man on horseback stood before me, his face thrown back in malice. His hand was outstretched, and a dark tunnel of twilight descended from it. Abruptly, his laughter eased, and he slowly lowered his head to stare at me with broad, pooling eyes and a powerful grin. As soon as I saw his face, I realized that I recognized him. He was one who had come to my father not too long ago as a soldier of the desert countries, seeking refuge from the brutality of the world, far to the east. The blood red hair, darkened complexion, and unmistakable eyes; my mind raced as I thought back to a time long past, when my father had met with the man. I remembered seeing him, but could not recall his name.

Suddenly, I gasped in shock, my knees buckling below me and my expression wide with fear. I collapsed to the ground, panting. Pressure from the darkness above had plowed into my back, throwing me to the ground in mercy. I screamed in sorrow, and in pain. Fighting against the pressure, I managed to force my head up to view the man again. I panted as my eyes narrowed in hatred, and my golden hair whipped about my pointed ears. The man smiled manically, and trotted with his horse towards me slowly, savoring my moment of weakness. The eyes of his black horse were a glittering red as they pierced into my skin. When the man reached me, he dismounted and lifted my chin upwards to stare into his face with rough hands. I snarled at him in disgust. He smiled, then removed his hand quickly, letting my head plunge to the ground and throb painfully in the dust. I glued my eyes shut and grimaced in sorrow. In the next few moments, I remembered the greatest days of my life, bade farewell to my family, and waited for the end to come. The man above me threw his hands to the black sky in triumph, knowing that his beastly plans had succeeded. The notion caused a strip of lightning to crackle out of the sky, and bear a source of murky light towards the ruined world. It was all over now. He had won, and I had lost. With one last effort, the darkness leaped from the crevice in his hand in a powerful surge. I closed my eyes tighter and waited for the force to slowly kill me. I took my last breath, waiting for the next moment, when my soul would be purged with evil.

It was then, that the clouds parted.

A beacon of light, like a holy sword, slashed through the twilight. The man cried in agony as the tunnel receded into his hand. In a split second, he leaped upon his midnight horse and fled with great haste towards the depths of the earth. In wonder my eyes snapped open and I lifted my head from the dirt. The pressure that had forced me down was gone, replaced with the warm air of a summer's day, and the blue heavens of clear skies. The light had saved me. But where was it coming from?

With a sudden burst of energy, I stumbled to my feet and swerved my head north towards the base of the light. My golden locks tumbled about my shoulders, and my gown blew in the wind as I stared intently past the escaping shadows and towards the parting trees, to an entrance in a distant forest. With a sudden explosion of green light, the twilight fully receded, and the fields of Hyrule returned, once again, to their full flourish. I saw then, under a canopy of branches to the north Kokiri forests, something unlike anything I could have ever imagined.

A young boy, clothed in clad green, bearing the source of the light.

An emerald of the forest.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hi, everyone.**

**I'm expecting this fic to take a rather long time, so I'm planning on giving it most of my writing attention at the moment.**

**I would love to get some reviews on this telling me what the readers think. This is my third fic, my second on-going, and feedback would be much appreciated, seeing as I'm relatively new to all of this.**

**Also, I'm trying this new thing, where I make a playlist of the music that I listen to when I write a certain chapter, and put it into my A/N's at the end of the piece. You can expect to find that from Ch. 1, onwards.**

**Right, so, reviews are appreciated, and many thanks to everyone for reading.**

**And, enjoy the world of Oot!**

**_-Jellisoup _**


	2. First Acquaintance

Chapter 1: First Acquaintance

"…but then, when all hope had died, and the hour of doom seemed at hand,  
a young boy clothed in green appeared as if from nowhere.  
Wielding the blade of evil's bane, he sealed the dark one away and gave the land light..."  
-Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker Introduction

I awoke with a start.

Beads of cold sweat formed at my neck and poured down my back. My heart was racing. The nightmare, the same one that I had received every night this week, had come to me again. Random visions of the dream flew through my mind, disappearing before I had the chance to decipher them. Overwhelmed with images, I held my head in my hands and squeezed my eyes tightly, trying desperately to analyze every aspect of the dream. However, it seemed that whenever I could clearly remember something, it would slip out from under my mental grasp.

After another few minutes of sifting through my groggy thoughts, only three recollections of the dream remained: A giant castle laden with bricks, a black stallion and an indistinct man of unfathomable power.

It had been a full week of the same repeated vision, and these three parts of the dream were still the only ones that I could remember. Night after night, the horrendous images haunted me throughout the darkest hours of obscurity, clouding my visions with detached images that did not seem to fit together properly; by daybreak all was forgotten but this same trio of events.

This morning, like so many of the others that had come to pass this week, I sat on my bed for many minutes, desperately trying to sort through my thoughts and try to remember something, _anything_ else from the dreams. But my attempts were in vain; nothing else seemed to come up.

Withdrawing my head from my cradled hands, I slouched sleepily on the edge of the bed. I absentmindedly stared into one of the wooden walls that surrounded my room, and attempted to shake the grogginess from my mind. When my head was relatively clear, I stood on shaky legs and shuffled over to the only window in the house, facing outwards to the west of the enclosure.

I stared into the eyes of the boy watching me through the frosty pane. His golden blond hair was ruffled and messy from sleep, and it curled slightly around the base of his pointed ears. A giant cowlick occupied the space at his eyebrows, and below them, his shocking blue eyes matched the color of the window. Like every other Kokiri child in the forest, he was wearing a tunic of grass green, and a pointed hat lay askew on his head. But one trait stood dominant over all of the rest: a glistening golden scar in the shape of a triangle on the face of his left hand. The triangle was split into three- the furthest right section shaded with obvious prominence. It cut into his skin and shone bright gold with a majestic light. It was a scar that he had had for as long as he could remember, something that separated him from the rest of the normal Kokiri. That, and pointed, Hylian ears. Those were two of the three, unusual, traits that he had lived with throughout his entire life.

The boy in the mirror stared back at him silently, until his eyes narrowed in frustration and he opened the window with a protesting crack. The mirror of frost peeled off of the window and drifted to boy's feet.

My name is Link. I'm a Kokiri, or, at least, that's what I've been raised to believe. I live in the Kokiri forest at the northern tip of Hyrule, and although I've always wanted to visit the world outside of my village, I never have been able to. It is commonly believed in the village that the race of Kokiri must never leave the forest, or death will quickly befall them. For some reason, I don't quite believe that's true, but it's one of the only rules governing our people, so it's one that I have to follow.

The Kokiri are ruled by the guardian of the forest, the Great Deku Tree; he watches over all of us. Since we never actually grow older, and stay children forever, I guess it's suitable that we need someone taking care of us-even if it is just a giant oak tree. The Deku Tree stands in the Sacred Meadow east of my house. A lot of the Kokiri children go to visit him now and again, but they're only allowed to go if they're summoned by the tree especially. Since the Guardian has never summoned me to go visit him, I've never actually been in the meadow. But I've heard rumors about it.

We Kokiri are an interesting bunch. First of all, we're the only race in Hyrule who never grow old. The Kokiri originated from a group of young Hylian children who were lost in the forest and changed into spirits. Anytime a young child is lost in the woods, they usually turn into one of us. However, although we descend from Hylians, we don't look at all like them. Most Kokiri's have small, pointed ears and green, blue or hazel eyes. Our hair is usually blond, brunette or green, and our clothing is recognized for being a slight shade lighter than the trees we live about. Sometimes, we wear pointed hats and belts just for the heck of it, and we wear shoes of either brown leather or green fabric. And we all had fairy partners, chosen by the Deku Tree, to take care of us. Well, most of us did. Every child in the forest, except for me.

I have no idea why. It's never been brought up with me and the Deku tree, although the other Kokiri will never let me forget about it. It sucks having large ears in the first place (it's a Hylian trait), but on top of that, I was the weirdo without a fairy. Another strange thing about me: remember when I said before that Kokiri never grow up? Yeah. I'm definitely growing. Would you call growing three inches in the last two months growing up? Then I am.

So, obviously, I'm different than the rest of the children. And it hasn't gone unnoticed. I don't have that many friends- hardly anyone talks to me- and I don't have a fairy companion to keep my company. I'm actually pretty lonely most of the time.

Sometimes I wonder if I even really am a true Kokiri. A lot of jokes are made about me being a "Hylian" that I usually just let slide and not be a burden. But, sometimes I wonder: what if I what the others say is really true? Maybe I'm not meant to be stuck in this forest for the rest of my life.

I do have one really good friend, Saria, who always tells me that the reason I don't have a fairy is because I'm meant to do something bigger and better than be a normal Kokiri child. Her input on my situation does help, but I can't always trust her judgment because she is so strange herself. Most of the time she hangs out in the Lost Woods, playing her ocarina. It's a place that the other children usually avoid, because, well, it's somewhere that you can get lost. But Saria seems to know the woods inside and out. (She even had her own theme song for it on the ocarina.) She told me that, someday, she would teach me how to play it, if I were patient enough. That's unlikely. I have a pretty bad temper when you get down to it, and she knows it. She doesn't want me to break her only ocarina. She is a bit of an oddball, but that doesn't mean she's un-liked. In fact, Saria is one of the most popular Kokiri in the forest. It's amazing that she even talks to me, and even more amazing that we are each other's best friends. She really is a pretty great person, and she's got a knack with people and animal skills. I'm grateful to have her around.

A soft breeze of fresh spring air blew through the open window. I filled my lungs with the sweet scent of the morning and lazily leaned on the windowsill. The sun was rising over the forest, and rays of golden light were peaking through the surrounding trees. It was a sight that I rarely had the chance to view, as I never usually got up this early, until recently when I started having the nightmare. I placed an arm on the windowsill and dangled my fingers thoughtfully out the window. I shifted my eyes to watch the Kokiri children exit their huts to begin a new day.

The children here were so different from me, in so many ways. I watched how they interacted with each other, how friendly they were with one another. It was a different story when I was around. It was made very clear that I was an outsider in the forest, and I often wondered if that was something I wanted to live with for the rest of my life. My thoughts drifted frequently to self-discovery, but I usually just brushed them off without second regard. However, this past week had been different; I had definitely thought about my true calling in life more often than not, and I couldn't help but assume that the strange images that I had seen in my dream were somehow connected to them. My focus returned to inside myself, where memories of the nightmares were still fresh in my subconscious: those three, disturbing, images.

_Castle. Black horse. That strange man…_

I was so lost in thought that I hardly noticed the twinkling noise coming from outside my open door. Any other onlooker paying attention to the events in my household that morning would have noticed something of utter rarity occur. As I stood thoughtfully, leaning halfheartedly out the window and taking in the morning air, a fairy was flying through the canopy of trees towards my house. A fairy by the name of Navi.

As the fairy reached the house, she tilted her wings upward and maneuvered through the door left carelessly ajar. Glancing around the room, she noticed a young boy leaning out of the window. It was this particularly odd Kokiri that was of her interest, and she floated carefully up behind him.

The fairy's faint, but slightly sharp voice broke the silence.

"Hey! Link!"

Startled, I stiffened and turned my head to stare at my morning visitor. My eyes widened in disbelief.

Floating in the air directly in front of me was a fairy. She was a crystal white, almost blue, in color with compacted wings that were covered in a sparkling substance that rained to the ground where she hovered. Her wings were long and thin like paper. They were translucent, and as I stared disbelieving at her, I could plainly see the scenery outside of the window through them. As she hovered in the air before me with an urgent look about her face, I was so shocked that I lost my ability to form words. It took me a couple moments before I could comprehend that there was a fairy in my house. After a few minutes, my gaping mouth closed, and I my voice returned to me. I addressed her carefully, and slowly, wondering if she was trying to fool me somehow. She eyed me strangely as I spoke to her.

"Uh… hi."

"Are you awake?"

"Relatively." I mumbled, my mouth hanging open.

She sighed and eyed me carefully with brilliant blue eyes.

"Are you just going to stand there gaping at me all day?" She asked sharply.

I closed my mouth and released the tension in my stiff muscles, letting my body slouch.

"I guess not."

"That's a much better expression for you. You should learn to not stare at someone like that when they enter a room."

I didn't reply, still feeling the effects of surprise. Instead, I tilted my head to one side and eyed her carefully. I began to sidestep slowly to the right, keeping my gaze fully on her, towards my bed frame that was squished up against one of my walls. When I reached the bed, I collapsed upon it and continued to examine her in disbelief. Her eyes were neon, a bright blue that stared back into mine with intensity.

"If you haven't already guessed," she spoke slowly "I'm a fairy."

I nodded.

"My name is Navi."

I nodded again.

"And you're Link, correct?"

Once more.

She smirked and looked me up and down carefully.

"The others were right. You are a weird one."

The remark brought me out of my trance. I folded my arms and grinned sarcastically.

"And?"

"Shouldn't you be a little happier to see me?"

"How do you mean?"

"You're the boy without a fairy, right? Fairies don't communicate with Kokiri without a partner. To my knowledge, you've never talked to one of us before. So, shouldn't you be celebrating right now? A fairy has finally come to you."

"Celebrating, huh?"

"Right about now's a good time to start."

I tilted my head thoughtfully.

"I know you..." I spoke questioningly.

She snorted. "You _know_ me?"

"I've seen you before."

Her eyes hardened. "Right."

"Have you seen _me_ around?"

Navi sucked in air. Yes, she had seen this boy around the forest. He was usually alone, or hanging out with that Saria girl. Now she knew why. He was so weird! She'd never particularly liked him- she had an opinion of him that was not a pleasant one. But her attitude towards the boy was of her own, by her own accord, and something that she could obviously not let him know. She was going to have to fake her way out of this predicament if she were to follow the Deku Tree's orders, and keep him happy.

She faked a smile between her teeth.

"Yes." She muttered.

Link grinned, then threw his head back and laughed loudly.

"Oh, come on Navi! It's pretty obvious you don't like me, and hiding it doesn't do you anything. That's a pretty painful expression you've got on your face there." He added with a smirk.

She grimaced.

"Your right." She replied. "I don't like you, and this is the last place I want to be today, trust me."

Link yawned and collapsed on the bed with his arms behind his head. He closed his eyes and spoke in a falsely contented voice.

"Did you have to bug me this early then? You know, I have so many other things to do besides talk to conceited fairies."

Navi's cheeks burned a bright crimson with anger.

"Like what?"

Link popped an eye open to look at her.

"Try me."

"I'll pass."

He shrugged.

"Suit yourself." The boy rolled away from her on the bed to face the opposite wall. "See you later then, I guess."

The stain of Navi's cheeks quickly spread throughout her, giving her the look of a sparkling red cherry. She floated down to Link, otherwise inattentive, and hissed in his ear.

"Ok, listen up, kid." She huffed. The boy tried, half-heartedly, to stifle a laugh beyond his determined, silent lips.

"I don't want to be here just as much as you don't want me here, so let's get to the point, shall we? The Great Deku Tree sent me. He needs to talk to you. Now. It's urgent, so do you think could take a little fraction of time out of your busy schedule to come with me?"

I sucked in a mouthful of air while I thought about that. The Deku Tree? Wanted to see me? Why? I rolled back towards her to shoot her a quizzical look, and watched as the angry red of her cheeks slowly faded back to a normal shade of white.

"It's not good, Link." She spoke slowly in a tone that was new to me. Worry. "Something bad is about to happen. I…" she took a sudden, deep breath. "I can feel it."

I knew she was right: something weird was going on. The Deku Tree had never asked to see me specifically, I mean, that l was just something that I'd learned to accept. But, as I sat there on that warm spring morning in the comfort of my own wooden home, staring at the odd, un-partnered fairy that had barged into my house unannounced, I knew my life was about to change. But in a way that was to my liking, I wasn't sure.

"Alright, fine." I proclaimed getting to my feet. "Lead the way Navi."

The fairy gave me a wide grin and flew out the door.

* * *

**A/N:**

**I'm trying to make Navi as least annoying as I possibly can. (Not totally sure how that will turn out, honestly.)**

**So, sorry all you Navi haters.**

**(R&R!)**

**_-Jellisoup_**

**~Playlist~**

**Sunshine- _The All-American Rejects._**

**Rainbow Veins- _Owl City._**

**Talk to Me- _Blue Foundation._**

**Talk- _Coldplay._**

**Use Somebody- _Kings of Leon._**

**_*Full credit goes to the musical artists/whoever makes this music. You guys are awesome. Many thanks for providing inspiration.*_**


	3. Old Friends and New Challenges

Chapter 2: Old Friends and New Challenges

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."  
-Walter Winchell

Unlikely as it seems, it turned out that some Kokiri children did happen to pay attention to the events happening outside of Link's household that morning. Word quickly spread throughout the forest that generous amounts of Kokiri had noticed a fairy flying towards, and into, Link's home. By noon, the whole forest was buzzing with the news that the un-partnered boy had finally found the company of a fairy. But, of course, the gossip hadn't travelled by word of mouth quickly enough to reach the very depths of the Lost woods, where Saria sat practicing on her ocarina.

* * *

I had gotten up earlier that morning, sooner than the sun had risen, to play my ocarina in the Lost Woods. It was a peaceful session- something that I longed for after the past week of anxiety. I hadn't been able to sleep properly in the past six days, which was odd for me; I usually had no trouble sleeping in until late afternoon. There was something in the forest that was changing: great forces that were brewing under the peaceful surface of the village. I knew these woods well, and I noticed when something had changed in them. It was as if the entire world was shifting to make way for an event of astounding proportions that would upset the balance of time. Someone, or something, was rising out of the depths of Hyrule, and I knew that that epic force was coming from these woods.

When I had finished my session, I sighed quietly, unwilling to leave my sanctuary and face the chaos of the outside world. Most Kokiri children were afraid of these woods, but I was not. Somehow, when I came here, I felt a sort of strange wave of ease and peace wash over me. I loved having my music sessions in these woods because of the untouchable feeling I got when I came here. I felt like I was being watched over by a supernatural being.

My favourite spot to play was on a lone tree stump in the back of the woods. It's a secluded area, with ruins of an ancient building crumbling from its point on the wall and ivy snaking through the cracked cement. But most mysterious of all about it is the platform in the shape a medallion built into the ground. There was something about this place: I feel as if it was created just for my eyes, and I know it will be a significant place in my future.

With my energy returning I stood up and tucked my instrument into my pocket. I began to make the journey out of the forest and back home.

Sunlight washed over me when I reached the entrance to the woods. I squinted carefully, giving my eyes time to adjust to the sudden change in light. When they had, I stared out into the distance to catch a figure running towards me. A Kokiri child.

The Kokiri reached me, panting, and bent down to rest his arms on his knees. When he caught his breath, he straightened and eyed my excitedly.

I gave him a curious look.

"Hey."

"Saria! Something's happened! You'll never guess!"

I cocked my head towards him thoughtfully.

"Really?" I found it hard to believe that something that could cause the child such excitement had come to pass within the hour.

"Yes! It's... the no-fairy boy! Link!"

My eyes widened in question, then rolled. What did Link get himself into now?

"He's! - I mean!-" The boy spluttered, and then paused to manage his words.

"A Kokiri this morning saw a fairy flying into his house! He's finally been partnered!"

I stared at him in shocked silence. The Kokiri's grin widened in amusement at my reaction. With satisfaction I crossed my arms and smiled to myself.

It was about time.

We left the house briefly after Navi had told me the news of the Deku tree. She suggested that I packed a few of my things on the spot, in case we had to leave somewhere later in a rush. I nodded my head at her suggestion and began to pack a satchel with a few of my little belongings. As I did this, my mind raced with questions: Why did the Deku tree want to see me now, after so many years of waiting to be partnered with a fairy? And why was it so urgent? They were subjects I meant to bring up with Navi later, when we were walking to the meadow, as she seemed pretty rushed to leave now and was nagging me to pack faster. I packed swiftly, with her badgering, and carefully- not really needing time to sort my things, as I had so few. We left about fifteen minutes after she had first appeared.

We were greeted to the outside world with a burst of sunlight and a wave of shouting Kokiri. Navi and I both stopped abruptly outside the door, shocked at the amount of people waving at us from the ground below. Hundreds of Kokiri were crowded around my tree house, all of them shouting and congratulating me in a crash of sound.

"Hey Link!"

"There he is!"

"Look! He does have a fairy!"

"When did you find out, Link?"

"Is that Navi? I think it's Navi!"

"Link! Good job, buddy!"

"Congratulations!"

The noise was enough to drive anyone out of sleep, and I watched with a sickening stomach as yawning children wandered out of their houses to see what all the commotion was. Still more shouted at me from doorsteps, shaking their angry fists in the air. It was an utter mess! How could have word of Navi and I travelled throughout the forest so quickly? I knew that the throng of children below me meant well, and that they all just wanted to congratulate me on receiving a fairy, but the mob of onlookers was starting to seriously freak me out. And it was waking up half of the forest. I was certain that pretty soon, the crowd would turn chaotic, and a fight would break out somewhere below. It wouldn't be the first time. I had to do something to get out of here, quickly, but I couldn't decide on what to do or where to go.

I glanced at Navi for help, but all she returned was an exasperated flutter of her wings. I turned my head back to the crowd and swallowed a cold lump in my throat. Was I going to have to make a speech or something?

Suddenly, out of the crowd came an authoritative cry of annoyance.

"Hey! What 's going on? Get out of here! All of you! Ouch! Get off my foot!" The voice snarled with anger.

A green haired Kokiri girl was pushing through the stiff crowd, gradually making her way towards me. When she had reached the front, she stared straight up at me with green eyes and a smile that I would recognize anywhere.

Saria.

I grinned back at her and we both shared a moment of relief. If anyone could get this crowd under control, it was her.

"Okay, listen up everyone!" Her hair bobbed up and down as she shouted above the crowd. The yelps of the Kokiri instantly died down to a softened whisper.

"I think it's pretty obvious that we all know Link has received a fairy," The whispering grew louder and cheerier with her words. She raised her voice further to be heard over the crowd.

"Which i_s_ great and all," Excited whoops drifted from the crowd.

"_But_, we don't need a mass of people out here to congratulate him!" The cheers immediately ceased.

"Everyone, let's all get back to what we were doing before this, sleeping or otherwise..." She gestured towards the growing swarm of sleepy Kokiri building to the left of my house. They raised their fists in angry protest.

"...and return to our quiet, peaceful morning, okay? This is a forest, not a protest ground. Everyone, go back to what you were doing! We can all congratulate Link,_ personally_, later."

With her final words, the crowd began to thin, and the inhabitants of the forest returned to their morning activities. The awakened group near the houses to the left of the forest nodded approvingly and grumbled back to their beds to sleep. Finally, when most of the children had left, or had shifted to the side of the house in whispering pairs, Saria turned to me triumphantly.

"Pretty good, huh?"

I smiledat her gratefully. Relief washed over me from the comfort of her expression.

"Thanks, Saria."

She nodded.

"No problem."

Her gaze drifted upwards to where Navi hovered shyly behind my hat.

"And who are you?" she asked kindly.

Navi peeped at her from behind the fabric, then flew slowly out from behind it. I glanced up at her from behind my shoulder and smiled encouragingly. She nodded in my direction, realizing that this girl was a friend, and flew down to Saria's level to introduce herself tentatively.

"My name is Navi."

Saria smiled and raised a cautious hand to the fairy. Navi accepted the notion with a flutter of her wings, allowing the girl to pat her gently on the head with light fingers. As the two met, a second fairy began to reveal itself from hiding behind Saria. The other fairy was a soft green in colour, with translucent wings as thin as paper. She hovered over Saria patiently for a minute, and afterwards flew down to her level to nudge her on the cheek. The girl gave her a silent look, then turned back to face Navi, who had fluttered back to my eye level. She addressed us both.

"Link, Navi, this is my fairy, Lera."

I waved my hand in a friendly gesture and Navi nodded towards the fairy. Both had met before when they had served under the Deku tree, in the days before they were partnered. Lera fluttered her wings in brief recognition.

I turned my attention to Saria after the quiet exchange.

"How did you know about the partnering?"

She smiled and flicked her fingers through the empty forest air.

"The woods told me." I laughed and she pouted playfully.

"That's something you wouldn't understand unless you spent more time in the Lost Woods. The trees have a way of communicating too, you know. How else would they know when the seasons change that it would be time to drop their leaves? Some people even say that..." She paused dramatically. "The trees whisper to each other on the breath of the wind!"

I eyed her carefully with a smirk, unconvinced.

"Okay, Saria."

"It's true!" She punched me lightly on the arm, laughing. I grinned, and took a few warning steps forward. She raised one eyebrow in response and lifted her arms in front of her in a light defence.

Engrossed in a potential battle with Saria, my thoughts strayed from the far more serious situation at hand. Navi exchanged a few brief words with Lera, and tried to catch my glance with an urgent stare. When our eyes met, she motioned towards the forest beyond, where the Deku tree lay in wait for us to return. I nodded unwillingly and turned back to Saria, who dropped her battle stance in response to the change of mood. She stared at me with a confused look and I shifted my eyes to the far forest with a blank expression.

"Is there something you're not..."

"The Deku tree has summoned me." I interrupted quietly.

Her eyes widened in surprise, and then excitement.

"What? Really? That's great!" She stepped towards me and put both of her hands on my shoulders. I didn't look at her. She sensed my un-enthusiasm and shook me gently.

"Link? What is it?" I glanced at her hurriedly, my face displaying my conflicted thoughts. She stiffened and frowned at my sense of agitation.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just..." She let go of me and stepped back, staring into my eyes, confused. I looked away again and paused for a few seconds to figure out just how to voice my feelings.

"It doesn't make sense!" I blurted out. I threw my hands into the air in frustration. "Why would he summon me now, after all this time of me waiting around for a fairy? After twelve years, Saria!" I turned to meet her gaze, and noticed that her lips were pursed in thought.

"It's been twelve years since I came to this forest." My voice lowered a few notches. "And I've never received a fairy until now. Why is that? I've been waiting for so long, I had already given up hoping for a fairy to come to me, and then all of a sudden, one does. Out of total thin air. No explanations. Nothing. It's like, what the hell took so long? You know?" I studied her body, slouched in concentration. She held her arms close to herself with one hand concealing her lips. Her eyebrows were bent in thought.

I let her ponder my words for a few minutes, watching her patiently and waiting for a response. After a while, she looked up at me again with a weak smile displayed upon her face. I felt a sudden, cumbersome weight in my chest when I saw her bleak expression. I didn't like that face on her. I knew she probably thought I was being ridiculous right now, and I guess it sounded like I was, but it was so hard to explain exactly what I was feeling right at that moment. It was difficult for me to even place a finger on my emotions, much less explain them. I felt this nervous, sick, churning _thing_ in my stomach that made me choke with anxiety, but was, at the same time, incredibly exciting. I felt as if my life was going to turn around in some strange, twisted way, but also, that it was about to crumble beneath my fingertips. I had an unsettling feeling of dread in my stomach, a feeling that had gradually crept inside of me during the past week of uneven sleep and horrific nightmares. Something was definitely going on, something that I had only begun to scratch the complicated surface of. I wanted answers to my questions, and it seemed that the only way of getting them was to go to the Deku tree with Navi. But something about that, too, gave me a queasy feeling deep inside the pit of my stomach. I was stuck between two places- like a rock, balancing on the very tip of a mountain, inches away from plunging into the unknown- and seeing Saria like this just made everything even worse. I hated seeing her worry about me, but I could sense that there was something deeper below the surface of her expression that she had been trying to hide, something that, she too, had noticed lately. Something that was more complicated than I could ever imagine. I knew that she understood my point; she knew something was going on as well.

Saria looked at me with blank eyes and a weak smile. I stared back at her, feeling something shift inside of me at the sight of her this way. Her eyes looked lost and very far away as she took my hands in hers and tightened her grip around them. The action caused a shot of panic to run through me in response to the sudden change about her. And then, almost as if she could feel the worry inside of me that her notions had caused, her eyes became readable again, and a small smile crept around her lips. Her expression warmed to reassure my doubts, and the old Saria that I knew so well slowly started to return as she opened her mouth to form words.

"Link, listen to me." She spoke slowly but with a small sense of urgency. I nodded my head in response.

"Something is happening in these woods, a strange force that has come to me in the past week... something that I am sure you have felt as well." My thoughts reluctantly drifted back to the nightmares of the past week. I stiffened in automatic response to the terrible images that came to mind, but Saria's strong grip drew me back to her words.

"The forest has been uneasy: the trees are rustling their leaves louder than usual, and I can hear the animals whispering to each other urgently in the night. Something is rising out of this forest, and though I am sure that it is something major, I have no idea what it is, or when it will come to pass." As she spoke, the warmth in her face began to cool. I listened carefully until she finished, and when she did, she looked away from me with a deep sadness displayed in her eyes.

"Link, tell me. Do you remember what I always used to say to you? How... you don't have a fairy because..." She turned her gaze back to me and smiled weakly. "...something better is going to happen to you in life?" I nodded, and she sighed and closed her eyes. She continued to speak again, raising my hands to place them on the left of her chest. Her beating heart pulsed below my palm.

"I believe that the recent events have something to do with... you. And you receiving a fairy today has confirmed those beliefs for me. Something incredible is about to happen to you, finally, after all of these years of waiting. We spent twelve years together as friends, and during that time I watched you grow up with the pain of not having a fairy, and not knowing what your destiny would be. But now, the day has come. The day you discover who you truly are..." She opened her eyes slowly and looked up at me with a tearful smile that crept about her lips. Her words left me with a shocked look upon my face. I noticed a crystal tear escaping from her eyelid, replacing shock with a smile.

"And now Link," she continued with an honourable, but still very sorrowful, glow. "You have a fairy. So how will your life turn around? Will something incredible happen to you, or will you let this forest contain you forever?"

With that the young Kokiri girl lowered her head and lets the tears fall freely. She had now found herself confused by the intensity of her emotions. She was happy for her best friend, happy that he would soon discover his destiny. But where would that leave their friendship? Would the beautiful bond of it stay with him throughout his life, like it would for her, or would he just let the memories slip away?

Her questions were answered when she felt the cool touch of her friend's fingers under her chin. Her eyes wandered upwards, where the strange boy lifted her chin to look at him, and gazed into her eyes with gratitude. Another tear escaped from her melancholic eyelids. The boy smiled and raised a hand to catch the glittering liquid on his finger. With the opposite, he embraced her cheek with a feathery touch. The girl tried weakly to speak, but words did not form at her fumbling mouth. The boy, however, voiced the words she could not say.

"Saria... thank you."

I stared into the emerald eyes of the girl before me with a deeper sense of appreciation than I had ever felt before in my life. I was faintly aware of Navi above me, trying to signal that it was time to leave, but now, I didn't feel the slightest urge to go. The heartache of my best friend was holding me back, tying my feet to the ground with a bond that was unbreakable to anyone other than ourselves. I wanted to stay with her, to comfort her in the ways that she had always found the time to do for me. We both knew that it was almost time for us to say a permanent good-bye. But what I didn't realize before now was that Saria always knew that this day would eventually come: the day when we had to be separated. We were just too different. We were two of the same, except that one of us lived where they belonged and the other did not.

I swallowed a growing lump in my dry throat and tried to fake a comforting smile. It seemed to work, as Saria's face gained a little composer. Her eyes hardened and I moved my hands away from her face. She wiped the remaining tears from her cheek with the sleeve of her tunic and stared back into my eyes with the same sense of appreciation that I felt. Together, though, our expressions held a sense of determination, and we turned them together to the outside world, ready to face its hardships: some that we understood, but most that we didn't.

The vision of our companions was almost comical. Lera's eyes were widened in a mixture of shock and horror at the emotional scene that had just taken place in front of her. Navi's gaze kept drifting to the forest in the distance, her wings twitching randomly; she was itching to return to the approval of her guardian. The sight of our partners in this state caused Saria and I to glance back to each other. We both tried desperately to stifle our laughs from behind our concealed lips. But after a few moments, it was too much to endure, and we both broke out in a shower of uncontrollable laughter. The sound was loud enough to result in a large amount of Kokiri heads turning in our direction, staring at us with strange looks. A few of the late-sleepers from earlier were, again, driven outside, and they began to shake their fists at with abhorrence.

Navi's focus was broken due to our laughter. Her face wrinkled in annoyance in response to our hysterics.

"What? What is it?" she questioned heatedly.

Neither of us heard her over our amusement, unable to gain control of ourselves just yet. Navi's normally clam blue shade turned to pink as she demanded to know what was wrong with us. Lera stared at us in horror, unable to comprehend the varied array of emotion that was just displayed before her.

"Oh, I see!" Navi spluttered, now enraged. "I guess that we're just the laughing-stock, now that your little tear session is over. You know, it's enough to make any fairy sick! You humans! Your emotions are completely unbelievable!" She turned her back to us in a huff. Lera gave her a silent look of disbelief. Navi rolled her eyes in response.

It took another few moments, but eventually, when Saria and I were under enough control to speak coherently, I tried to explain our outbursts.

"I'm sorry Navi. Your expressions were just hilarious."

"Oh yeah, hilarious all right!" The fairy flew to me in a split second and looked at me straight in the eye. "I suppose your tears, mouths agape, dumbfounded looks are just totally..." she raised a wing to her heart and sighed sarcastically. "...heartbreaking!" I prevented another set of laughter from escaping and responded cynically.

"Yeah, totally."

"You little brat-"

"Okay! Guys!" Saria raised her voice above our bickering. Instantly, all attention was turned towards her. She smiled dimly, and pointed towards the beckoning forest in the distance.

"Link, Navi, isn't it time that you both got going?"

That cold, pitted feeling of dread returned to my stomach as she spoke. Navi's expression changed from annoyance to recognition in an instant, remembering the real reason that she had come to my house that morning.

"Oh right."

I took a step back from Saria reluctantly, unwilling to say the good-bye that I knew would eventually come. Navi seemed to sense my indisposition to leave just yet, and offered to meet me below the tree house. I nodded and she flew off, leaving me alone with the friend that I had known for as long as I could remember. Slowly, I turned my head and studied her eyes with worry. She stared back at me for a long while, seeming to hear the very words of doubt that repeated themselves over and over inside of my head. My expression was grim as I, again, realized that this might be the last time I would ever see her. She was someone that I didn't want to let go, someone that I felt I couldn't live the rest of my life without. She was the food that nourished the sense inside of my head, telling me to stay where I was and never leave. I looked into her eyes and saw a small piece of myself, clinging onto the life that I thought I knew. She was everything to me, the very force that sewed my feet to the floor in a stubborn reality. I couldn't leave. I couldn't be in a place that she wasn't. If that happened... I didn't think I would know exactly who I was. And that scared me.

It was then that something in her eyes changed. It was like a spark of light in the dark, the first sliver of sunlight on a cloudy day, the rainbow at the end of a thunderstorm. My body was stone, and it stayed put, but hers moved in the rhythm of life, coming towards me in a dance. I reached for the life in her eyes, my movements sluggish, dry and dull. I reached for her in the hollowness of my body, but she was too fast, and I felt the entity of her, and me, slip away. I realized then, that part of her was also a part of me, and that, by losing her, I was also losing a piece of myself. I tried to move my arms, to reach for her, but they stayed by my sides like a statue. I was moulded into the moment like a fissure in time, unable to move, to breathe, to speak.

She came to me in an embrace, the very touch of her skin bringing movement back to my body. I looked at her blankly, seeing her in a world that seemed alien to me. When she stepped back, the numbness travelled up my arms, to my face and my eyes. She looked at me with a smile and the same sense of life in her eyes as before, but this time, it was different. I no longer found a piece of myself in those eyes. I was no longer bound to my life here. I was free to lead a new life: the life that I was destined to.

She spoke, but her voice held no sound. I could only decipher the words by the movement of her lips.

"Good-bye, Link. And... good luck."

She smiled again, weakly, and tears came to her eyes, blocking out the light. I couldn't answer her. I couldn't speak.

She walked away from me in a slow movement, so unlike the way she had moved before. I watched her go, with eyes drowned in a blank stare, until she finally disappeared into the listless woods, sapping away the final strokes of color in my life.

The old me was gone, robbed by the cruel reality of the world. My hollow body stood still, in my new life, devoid of all that I used to know, all that made sense.

As I stood there numbly, my body an empty shell of a person, I watched the world go by around me in slow movements and felt nothing. I saw nothing, heard nothing, felt nothing but the numbness.

It was then that a new spark ignited in the embers of my soul, revealing a new, strange world that I did not recognize, and a new me, free from the ties of the life I had left behind.

My lips moved in response to the tears leaking from my eyes, settling in pools upon my mouth.

"Saria," I whispered towards the lonely, forgotten trees.

* * *

I didn't understand why humans were so slow.

The boy had been saying good-bye to his friend for more than half an hour. I didn't understand what was taking so long; I had waited patiently below his house for too long, staring into the direction of the woods where the Deku Tree was waiting for me to finish my task. I decided that I had waited long enough when the shadows of the trees had lengthened their reach towards me upon the forest floor. I heaved a sigh of impatience, and turned back towards Link's house, flying hastily as the sun rose ever-higher into the brightening sky.

I immediately noticed that there was something different about the boy. He stared, unmoving into the distance as I flew up, not noticing me until I flew directly in front of his expressionless face. I waved my wings in front of him, trying to initiate some sort of movement. After moments, he seemed to notice me flying in front of him, and his eyes turned towards me in puzzlement.

"...Navi?" He mumbled.

"Yes, it's me." I replied huffily, expecting to give him an idea of how long exactly I had waited for him below. My motives disappeared when I noticed that the girl was long-gone, vanished, as if she had never been there in the first place. My eyes were incredulous as they took in the sight of the boy. I wondered what was wrong with him, and what things had passed that would turn him to such an odd, grave state. He seemed cold, lifeless and fragile: hardly like the old Link at all. My head whipped accusingly into the distant trees, trying to locate the girl, to ask her what she had done to change him. What had she done with my partner?

Suddenly, Link's weak, quavering voice broke my concentration.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked. I turned my eyes to him, wondering why he had suddenly chosen to speak.

"What is it?" I questioned tentatively, in a tone like that an adult would use when talking to a very fragile child on the verge of tears.

A change took place in Link then, and the color seemed to return to his eyes in a splash of movement. I blinked my eyes in disbelief, amazed at the change that he seemed to undergo in the split second that it took to take a breath. When he spoke again, his voice was hard, and determined: ready to begin the journey before him.

"Are you ready to go?" he said with a smirk.

I sighed. The old Link was still here, all-right. I grimaced as my hope of a new, calmer Link faded.

"Let's head out," I sighed wearily, motioning towards the direction of the darkening forest that we were headed.

Link nodded in silent agreement, and together we headed into the thickening foliage.

A new journey, a new life.

* * *

**A/N:**

**... So basically I have no idea how I churned that out at 2 a.m last night.**

**I couldn't spell uncommon.**

**u-n-c-o-m-m-o-n.**

**_-Jellisoup_**

_**(R&R please!)**_

~Playlist~

She's so High- Tal Bachman.

Because of You- Kelly Clarkson.

Cat and Mouse- The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

Give me Novocaine- Green Day.

Bleach Ending 1- Life is Like a Boat- Rie Fu.

**_*Full credit goes to the musical artists/whoever makes this music. You guys are awesome. Many thanks for providing inspiration.*_**


	4. A Most Unusual Fairy

Chapter 3: A Most Unusual Fairy

"The flow of time is always cruel. Its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it. A thing that does not change with time is a memory of younger days..."  
-Sheik, Ocarina of Time

Link and I had walked for nearly an hour through the nearly impenetrable forest. Impatient and exhausted, we trekked along, tripping over collections of roots in frequent current, and getting multiple branches swung in our faces. Well, at least, my partner did. I always kind of knew that humans were naturally clumsy, but this was rather pathetic. I had lost count of the amount of times he had already fallen over. Every time he fell, he would pick himself up and continue marching along, as if nothing had happened. His determination, and the fact that he was so careless, irritated me.

Okay, I guess I was overreacting, but still; there had been a wall of silence between the kid and me throughout the duration of our walk, and it was starting to seriously freak me out. I was granting him the right to be alone with his thoughts, as I sensed that now was not the best time to make unnecessary small talk. He had, after all, just said good-bye to his lifelong friend, and I knew that there was probably an array of emotion that he wasn't conveying to me. I guess that that was a good thing. The last thing I needed was a wave of human emotions bombarded upon me, at the moment. And seeing as anything I could possibly say to him would just probably make his situation worse, the fact that we weren't speaking was probably a positive thing. His feelings were something that I could never understand, as they weren't a part of my kind. Fairies didn't experience emotions like regular humans. Our job was to look after Kokiri children- our singular purpose in our extended lives- and emotions were not needed in a job like that.

Even though the silence between us was probably a good thing, it didn't stop the boredom from creeping up on me. After a while, I sneaked a glance downwards at the kid who had, yet again, fallen to his knees in the dirt. He coughed loudly from the kicked up dust his motion had caused for a minute or two, but then placed both hands on his scratched knees to stand up again and continue walking. I rolled my eyes. What was with this kid? Yeah, I guess he had a lot more determination than I would have ever expected him to, but he sure was clumsy.

My teal eyes moved up and down as they slowly took in the sight of the strange boy. He had grown since the last time I saw him, which was... weird. Kokiri children weren't supposed to grow older. I could still remember the day that I had met him for the first time, five years ago. He was probably only about seven-years old, and he looked a lot different than he did now.

* * *

I met Link on one of the days that I was sent, by orders of the Deku tree, to deliver some messages to a group of Kokiri children that lived on the other end of the forest. The new wasn't of particular importance, now that I thought back to it. It was definitely something I didn't understand, or I would have otherwise remembered it. I saw him for the first time when I was flying about halfway through the village. It's kind of wondrous, actually, that we could have even spotted each other at all, considering how fast I was flying and how small he was in relation to other things in the forest. But I remember being so intrigued with something about his appearance, that it had caused me to stop flying immediately. It was his eyes: there was something special about them that caught hold of something inside of me from the very moment that I saw them. It was as if nothing else mattered to me in that moment than being right there, and my mission suddenly seemed very petty in comparison to the captivating strength of his stare. Gazing into his eyes made me feel so certain of myself in the world, like I was exactly where I needed to be in the universe at that exact moment in time. Something shifted inside of me then, and I felt entirely content- far more than I had ever before.

But, the look on Link's face was completely different than my own.

Although his eyes held me transfixed, there was something incredibly sad behind them. It was a look of immense fear and hopelessness- something that disturbed and fascinated me at the same time. My brain refused to pull away from the sight of this strange, sad child.

I was suddenly torn from my spellbound state, when a hand clamped upon the scrawny shoulder of the child, ensnaring him in a vicious clutch. His eyes pleaded to me for help as they were ripped from mine, causing a jolt of panic to shoot through my chest. The hand that grabbed his shoulder lifted him up into the air effortlessly as the boy cried in sheer terror. He was thrown backwards with an incredible force, and landed leagues away, collapsing face first into the hard dirt. My eyes moved in numb shock from the pitiful sight of the boy and landed, disbelieving, on the body of the Kokiri that the hand had belonged to. The other boy was wearing similar clothing to Link, and had brown mousy hair peeking out from under his green cap. Freckles were splattered all over his mean little face, and his lips were parted in a tormenting sneer.

"This is _too_ easy. Why do you even bother Link? You'll never, _ever_ beat me."

He smirked and looked over his shoulder, where Link was slowly picking himself up from the ground. He paused for a moment, breathing heavily, then snapped his head towards the other Kokiri in a blur of blonde hair, streaked with caked mud.

"Mido," he growled. His voice was full of such hatred that it caused shivers to creep violently up my spine.

"Someday... someday... I'll be stronger than you!" he raised his voice to a shout. "And you'll never hurt me again!"

The boy called Mido laughed meanly and swerved his head back, shortly replying over his shoulder.

"Sure, _No-fairy_."

His words drew my attention to the olive green fairy flying above his head. The fairy had quite the unpleasant look about her; she had a squished up face, like a withered flower, and her lips were twisted upwards in a snicker. I grimaced at the fairy's appearance, and shifted my eyes back to above Link's head, searching for the fairy of his own. My eyes stayed there for minutes before I realized that the boy's fairy was... non-existent. It was impossible! The kid was around seven years old, and he still hadn't been partnered. It was crazy! I understood, then, that if the kid had had a partner, it would never allow its companion to get beaten up like the boy was being now. I felt a sudden pang for the kid, looking so weak and alone kneeling below me in the mud: pity. I stared into his face in awe of that murderous expression of hatred. Remembering it still forms a cold lump inside of my throat. That look... was something deadly. If he had the ability, the kid could probably rip Mido to shreds with his spirit alone.

In a final blow, Mido suddenly erupted into a hysterical fit of laughter along with his partner. I watched them with a sick face as they walked towards the edge of the surrounding trees, and disappeared into the gloom. Even after they were gone, their laughter filled the air around Link and I like a terrible disease. With a sick churning in my stomach, which I'm sure must have been displayed on my face, I turned my attention back to the boy. He was now face-down in the dirt. I could hear him crying. They were these long painful sobs that wrenched all feeling from my gut and left me feeling nauseous. With the mission I was ordered to complete long gone from my mind, I slowly moved my unfeeling wings and drifted weakly down towards the boy. His tears seeped from his eyes and fell, one by one, into a small puddle in the dirt. I hovered above him for another few minutes and listened uncomfortably to his sobs, unsure of what to do. I wondered if there was any way that I could help him. What could I do? I glanced down at him again and realized that, probably, all he wanted right now was a friend for comfort. I guessed that that was all I could offer him. My wings fluttered cautiously as I lowered myself closer to his level, all the way until I was right below his face, in the range of his falling teardrops. The boy continued to cry, although it became a bit quieter and more controlled. His tears fell like rain onto my fluffy skin, dampening me like fur. Soon after, I felt all the weight of his tears pulling me down towards the earth. With some effort I kept myself alight and stared up at him in wonder. I wondered what he could have possibly gone through to make him cry like he was. It was beyond my imagining, and I tried to avoid the thoughts. I hovered in place, wondering, and absorbing his tears like a sponge. Suddenly, the tears stopped falling and he opened his incredible eyes with a sniff. Unfortunately, I was looking straight into them again, and I could see, not willingly, all of the heartache, the pain, and the confusion mounted into the young boy's life. I had never before seen a person's emotions displayed so prominently before, and it both shocked and scared me. I had never before seen such a complex array of feeling together in one place, at the same time. My kind didn't feel like that. There was no way that I could possibly imagine what he was going through, and to this day, I still have no idea. But I can still clearly remember that gutted feeling that I got when he looked at me, and that same deep connection to him that I had had earlier. But this time, it wasn't fear that clouded over his gaze: it was pain.

As we stared at each other, I was too distracted to notice that the boy has begun to smile. Unexpectedly, his hand raised and caught me in the air with a gentle grip. Sudden fear pulsed through me, but it is later dismissed as I realized that the boy would do nothing to hurt me. He raised his hands to his cheek, where his fingers uncurled and I was exposed to a wall of wet, pink flesh. I smiled as I understood what he wanted me to do. Slowly, I inched over to his cheek and delicately wrapped my wings around it in a soft embrace. I don't know exactly how long we stayed like that, but that didn't really matter to me. The warmth of his skin and his hand around me built up this kind of fluttering, fuzzy feeling inside of my body. It was cozy here, comfortable, and it gave me a feeling that was so hard to find out in the world. And in those simple movements, those few small moments of utter peace, I discovered a part of myself that was not before present. There was something about Link: when I looked into his eyes, and when we were in the comfort of each other like this, he made my life fall into place, even if it was just for a moment. We were connected somehow, in some strange little way that only made sense to us. With that connection, our futures were tied together in an unbreakable bound. Maybe I didn't understand anything about this boy's life, and he didn't know anything about mine. Maybe, we didn't even know each other's names. But something clicked between us that day in the forest. Our destinies were set, and we both learned that we were exactly where we needed to be, in that exact moment in time.

When we did finally pull away the sun was setting in the east, and it was time for both of us to go our separate ways. Together, we both stood up to face each other before leaving. The last few rays of the day's sunlight fell upon Link's face as I nodded to him and fluttered my wings in goodbye. And as I turned away from the boy that day, I felt so complete, so sure, so right about my life, that I hardly recognized who I was. Throughout my entire life I had always been unsure and awkward with myself, my future, and where it would lead me. I had little to no confidence in myself whatsoever. The day changed me, in one of those moments where the universe turns itself on its head, and the world that you once knew completely changes. For better or for worse, I wasn't sure. And for once, I didn't feel the need to doubt and ask why.

As I distanced myself further and further from the boy, the memory of the orders that I had received from the Deku tree slowly came back to me like a growing weight upon my shoulders, and the cruel reality of the world slowly crept back up on me. It was then that I heard the boy's voice for the first time; it broke through the silence and dissolved the nagging memories of normal life inside of my head.

"Thank you." he whispered.

I turned my head back and saw him over my shoulder. His eyes... why were they so blue? Everytime I saw them a shock jolted through my chest.

I gave him a weak smile in reply, unsure of what to answer; I knew that whatever I could have said would not have mattered, because he already knew what I was thinking. Instead, I turned away from him one last time, ruffled my wings with a sudden burst of energy, and soared out of the clearing at top speed, determined to complete my mission before night fell over the forest.

* * *

I never told anyone about what happened that day in the forest. It was something that I wanted to keep from the rest of the impure world: my own little secret between him and me. As it turned out, I did happen to deliver my message to the correct children in time, so no-one was ever suspicious of what I had done during my time away from the Deku tree. No-one ever asked me about it after that, which, I guess, was a good thing, because I would have been way too embarrassed to tell anyone about it anyway. Fairies weren't supposed to feel in the way that I had on that day.

I watched Link grow up in a way of my own in the days after that. I always had this weird kind of fascination with him- I remember always seeing him on my way to complete various errands by order of the Deku tree, and when I saw him I always went and hid behind a tree, or a bush, or something, to spy on him. Which was very odd, I mean, what fairy in their right mind would have such an interest in a Kokiri boy that they only met once? It's amazing that no-one ever caught me doing it, or my reputation would have been completely tarnished. Not that it wasn't already, but whatever.

The thing that bothered me the most about those strange encounters was the fact that the Link I saw then was a totally different Link than the one I met that day in the forest. This new Link, as I liked to call him, had a totally loud, rowdy ego that sickened me with annoyance. There was no trace of sadness or defeat left in him after that day. He cracked jokes all the time, pulled pranks all over the village; even the other Kokiri in the forest that he used to hang around began to hate his guts. Actually, in all of my observations over the past few years, the only person that I ever saw him with was Saria. For some reason, she was never annoyed with his boisterous behaviour. I had noticed that the two had always been mutual friends, but that when everyone else in the forest began to turn away from him, Saria did not. She stayed by his side throughout all of his lowest moments, and stuck up for him when she knew he was in the wrong; she really was his one, true friend.

However, the behaviour of this new Link, still, both confused and disgusted me. He was like a completely different person from the one that I had briefly met that day. To be completely honest, I kind of hated the new him. Any trace of what we had shared in the forest had obviously dissolved from his mind after the day that we had met. At times when we did come into real contact- seeing each other from across the forest, or crossing paths on one of the many roads around the village- he acted as if he didn't know me. He never met my gaze or gave me any recognition. I guessed that if I wasn't his true partner, he wouldn't feel the need to say hello to me, but, you know, a simple smile here and there, or even flicking his eyes in my direction for a second, it wouldn't be too difficult to achieve. For a time I told myself that he was just very shy, or he wouldn't want to risk his reputation by making small talk with a fairy that wasn't his partner (it was kind of taboo for a Kokiri), but after three years of the same reactions from Link, despite my good intentions, I began to absolutely despise the kid. A lot of the time his behaviour was totally out of line, way over the top, and it made everyone's life harder. Because I began to hate him so much, I always had to go out of my way to avoid crossing paths with him, which was irritating. Two years passed this way, two years of hatred, stress, and discomfort as I remember them now, and I watched as the boy without a fairy grew to the age of twelve. Five years had passed since our encounter in the forest by then- five years since I had felt that strong connection with the boy I had never met, and five years since the impossible had occurred, and I had felt emotion- when I was awoken by a fairy messenger, deep within the roots of the ancient Deku tree, and asked to meet with the guardian of the forest about a topic of utmost importance. A meeting about the "boy without a fairy".

...and so here we are. The strangest Kokiri child in the forest, and me, walking silently along the path leading to the Sacred Grove, where the great Deku Tree, guardian of the forest, has asked to meet us both. Together again at last.

I don't know how I feel about that. On the one hand, it is a relief to finally be on the brink of understanding why Link and I have this strange connection in the first place. I was completely confident that as soon as we reached the Deku Tree, all would be revealed to both of us. There were so many things that I didn't understand, things that I wanted serious answers to. Why, for one, did I have emotions unlike all of the rest of the fairies in the forest? Was there something wrong with me? Or was there some special power inside of me that was alien to the rest of the fairy society?

On the other hand, I wondered if I did want to know the answers to those questions at all. Something bigger than I could know was obviously taking place in the forest right now. Was it something that could permanently change me? Leave me scarred for the rest of my life? Or maybe, something that could leave me dead?

That final question bounced nosily inside of my brain, repeating itself again and again.

Leave me... dead?

My eyes unconsciously drifted downwards toward the boy in alarm.

Dead.

Dead.

Dead.

But for what?

Suddenly, the boy stopped walking and looked me straight in the eye for one of the first times since that day five years ago. Instantly, I got that same strange feeling of heartache, and bliss, together in the pit of my stomach. I was so transfixed, reminisce of that day so long ago, that I was hardly aware of his next words.

"We're here." He said.

"What...?" I mumbled in reply.

Link responded blankly, and pointed to the thick tunnel of darkening trees before us. With lazy eyes, I followed his finger to the canopy, the sight of which made my head shake to clear my sluggish thoughts. I blinked in disbelief at the archway that stood before us, unaware of how much time had passed. There was no doubt that it was the passageway to the Sacred Meadow, awaiting our return.

"Yeah," I respond slowly "That's it. So, are you ready?" I returned my gaze to the Kokiri, who was now looking absentmindedly in the opposite direction, in the direction back to his home. A few minutes of silence hung in the air around us before he responded in an unusually quiet voice.

"... yeah." He turned back to me and smiled sadly, his eyes still clouded over distractedly.

"Let's go."

I nodded carefully and lead the way through the last few clumps of trees, surprised that Link didn't lose his balance on any of the protruding roots this time.

* * *

**A/N:**

**I wonder what the connection between Navi and Link will be.**

**Those of you that have played Oot will know what I'm talking about.**

**_-Jellisoup_**

~Playlist~

Gunnin'- Hedley.

Absolute- The Fray.

Pen & Paper- The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

Satellite Heart- Anya Marina.

See Right Through Me- Mobile.

**_*Full credit goes to the musical artists/whoever makes this music. You guys are awesome. Many thanks for providing inspiration.*_**


	5. Trouble with an Old Enemy

Chapter 4: Trouble with an Old Enemy

"Hah! You're just afraid of me, the great Mido...aren't you? "  
-Mido, Ocarina of Time

It had been an unusually boring day for Mido. He hadn't pulled any of his usual pranks all day because the forests that morning had been empty of Kokiri children. All of the victims that he could have usually tormented were gone, celebrating the partnering of the Link, the no-fairy boy, the kid that he despised over all others in the forest. His arch nemeses

Mido pouted unhappily, annoyed by the fact that he couldn't quite call Link the "no-fairy boy" any longer.

"Stupid little idiot," he grumbled. He had spent the entire morning guarding the entrance to the Sacred Grove, instead of antagonizing weaker subjects like he usually did. He was supposed to be on duty, on behalf of the Great Deku Tree, but he was very tempted to leave his position to do something a little more stimulating. His job wasn't usually this boring, but as today no one was around for him to poke fun at, he was literally falling asleep under the canopy of ivy above him. The rising heat of the sun, the grim news of Link from earlier, and a lack of bullying did nothing to improve his mood. As Mido stood there with his arms crossed and a grumpy look on his face, his spirits became more and more unpleasant, until he was left in a mood that would have been unfortunate for anyone to deal with.

It was then that Mido saw the pointy green hat poking out of the depths of the surrounding oak trees. A Kokiri, followed by a glowing, pale-blue fairy.

Mido took a few seconds to process the figures throughout his sluggish thoughts. A sly smile crossed his face as he realized that he recognized the companions. Unconsciously, he strengthened his stance, determined to give the company a hard time before allowing them to pass through the way. Coming towards him was the only person that, through torment, could have possibly made his day any better.

Link.

* * *

I knew that there was going to be trouble from the very moment that I saw his green hat and freckled face. With Mido, there was always some sort of problem. As we travelled closer to him, I saw the smirk on his face grow bigger, until it was staring straight back at me in torment. It was a face that I now considered a rather typical one for Mido. Somehow, he had always managed to display the same ugly expression for me whenever we crossed paths. I could see the distaste layered underneath his grin, in his eyes, which were narrowed in such a way that they set off an instinctive alarm in my body. It was an alarm warning me that, whatever intentions Mido had for me today, I would have to be on my guard, because, through his hatred, he had the ability to seriously hurt me. I saw how much of a foul mood he was really in when he looked at me, and I instantly decided that my gut instinct was correct... to a limit. Although I would stay on my guard while talking to Mido today, I couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't say anything to push his buttons. That was just too much of an urge for me to resist.

As we grew closer to the Kokiri boy, I silently caught Navi's eye. She shot me an urgent glance of warning. It was obvious that she wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. I nodded in quick understanding, and turned my attention back to the enemy, who was now only mere strides away from me. A smug smile unconsciously formed upon my face. I noticed Mido sneer in irritation in response to my confidence; he knew that I wasn't about to let him push me around. It seemed too long before Navi and I reached the mouth of the passageway. Ivy snaked down the walls and overhead on the path, blocking out the sun and dousing everything around it in a pale green light. I trotted a few final steps, abruptly meeting Mido face to face. A green shadow crossed my face as I took a comfortable stance underneath the canopy of leaves, on hand placed upon my hip. I flashed a toothy grin towards him before speaking.

"Beautiful day out today, isn't it? I would have thought that you'd leave your duties to watch the partnering on such a nice day. Maybe even slap around a few Kokiri, while you're at it. It's too bad..." I tried to continue, but Mido interrupted me.

"Shut up, no-fairy."

"Oh no! But Mido, you can't call me that anymore!" I motioned with my hand towards Navi, while putting on sarcastic voice drenched in false disappointment.

"Maybe," Link continued, "if you had come to the village today, you would have known that! How very dim of you-"

"Get real, loser. You don't actually _have_ a fairy until the official bonding ceremony with the Deku tree. Have you ever even heard of _that_?"

My eyes snapped back to Mido carefully to check to see if he was bluffing. Instead, his expression was pure and questioning. My eyes narrowed as I tried, bitterly, to swallow the new information. No, actually, I hadn't heard of the... bonding ceremony, or whatever. The partnership between a fairy and a child was something that was strictly not discussed within the Kokiri race. My annoyance rose as I stared back into the piercing eyes of Mido. What an idiot. How the hell was I supposed to have known that? Shifting my eyes away from his face, I responded quietly.

"No."

"What? What was that?" Mido put a hand upon his ear with an expression of mock surprise. "Could you speak just a_ bit_ louder?"

My eyes flew back to his pudgy face in fury. I wanted nothing more than to murder the kid.

"No!" I yelled in his face. Mido cringed in my sudden anger, then began to howl, snidely, with laughter. My fists clenched in rage, and I gritted my teeth in an attempt to control my sudden fury. Navi noticed my sudden change in temper, and began to flutter her wings uncomfortably. She spoke to me in an urgent voice, crawling with warning.

"Watch yourself, Link."

I took deep breaths to try and control myself, barely hearing her over Mido's ear-splitting hysterics. With some effort, I managed to control myself long enough to wait for the kid to reduce his laughter to low giggles. He wiped the tears from his eyes in recovery, and then resumed his original stance with his arms crossed. After a few moments of hesitation, I spoke impatiently, my voice cold.

"Move, Mido."

Mido cackled and then eyed me, enjoying my annoyance.

"I think you already know the answer to that."

I resisted the urge to punch the guy in the face. What was I supposed to do now? Knowing Mido, he would never let me through, even if he were on his death bed. His bad mood obviously wasn't helping my cause. I glanced upwards to Navi for help, but she only flapped her wings hopelessly. Thinking quickly, I tried to think a lie that would let me get through the stiff Kokiri. Finally, I thought of something.

"The Deku tree already has summoned me!" I blurted. I watched as Mido's expression dropped into a sour frown.

"What?"

"... Yeah!" I exclaimed uncomfortably, instinctively trying to think of some reason _why_ I would have to go visit the Deku Tree.

_Think, think..._

Again, I looked up at Navi in thought, then realized.

_...well duh._

"I'm going to see him for my partnering!" My tone rose as I gained confidence in the lie.

"He's already summoned me to see him, so that we can be partnered." I pointed to Navi, then to myself as I talked.

The Kokiri seems suspicious of me.

"So... you're telling me that the Deku tree has already summoned you..." Mido spoke thoughtfully, obviously planning some way to screw me over. "... and I wasn't told? Do you remember, Link," Mido reached out a finger and poked me in the middle of my forehead, "That I'm the one who controls who comes in and out of the Sacred Meadow? And you think that the Deku Tree would have sent word to you without notifying me? Ha!" The Kokiri raised his head and laughed to the sky with piercing eyes.

"Nice try, kid."  
"We're the same age you dumbass."  
"Whatever. You're still not getting through here."

I snorted in an attempt to mask my fury.

"The only reason you guard the entrance is so that you have a place to manipulate whoever you want, Mido."

He sneered, his annoyance showing in cracks through his composure.

"Kokiri like, who, you?"

My fists clenched by my sides as roared internally. I could feel myself beginning to snap.

"You don't intimidate me-"

"Okay, Okay!" Navi interrupted impatiently. My head turned to look at her with a threatening look.

"Stay out of it."

"I will do no such thing," she replied icily, in a voice that made me close my protesting mouth shut. She stared at me briefly with eyes that sent a shiver throughout my body, then whipped her head back to Mido. He seemed to shrink under the weight of her intense stare. His expression displayed a look of shock. Since when did Navi get so intimidating?

"You listen here, child." Navi spat, inching closer to Mido. His eyes crossed as she moved closer to his face.

"You think that you have an important job here in the forest? Working for the Deku tree? Well, let me tell you something..." As she spoke, her pale blue colour turned red with anger, and she moved her wings faster and faster, until they became a vibrating blur of maroon. Mido looked numb with fear as her tone took a deadly turn. I stepped back, otherwise unnoticed, and muffled a giggle inside of my hand.

"I've been working for the Sacred Guardian since before you knew the very meaning of existence. Since before you were a single _thought_ within anyone's mind. I have been one of his closest partners since the days when the trees around us were merely sprouts. The Deku tree asked me, and only me, to retrieve this child for him in the quickest of manners, and you're trying to tell me that you won't let a boy and his fairy go through this path because you weren't _informed _of this event? Now, you tell me how well _that _will go over with Deku tree once I tell him!" Navi's bright blue eyes darkened with wicked torment.

"Oh, I'm very sorry, Mr. Deku-" Navi continued in a sarcastic, babyish voice. "I couldn't get back here on time because a snotty little kid held me up. Oh, what was his name again? Right. Mido... What a shame..." She turned her head sideways as she talked, then tilted it back towards the Kokiri in an aggressive grin. Mido's eyes were wide with fear for a few moments after Navi's speech, but were later tightened in fuming anger. Told off by a fairy? That was definitely cramping his style. The amusement disappeared from my face as I saw the Kokiri rise stubbornly onto his toes to look Navi in the eye. I could practically see the annoyance seep out of her tiny body as she sneered at him menacingly. Even from a few paces away, the negative energy surrounding the two was evident throughout the entire clearing. It's funny, but I had never before noticed that Navi and Mido didn't get along. It was easy enough to understand why, and a good thing for me, seeing how, as long as Navi was in my care, she would never let Mido push me around as he once did. My expression was mutual as I calmly folded my arms, and watched as the rest of the conversation unfolded.

"I'm not going to let a fairy push me around!" Mido snarled, his tone rising slightly. Navi's shade of red continued to grow brighter as she replied heatedly.

"Oh, you'll let me push you around, if you want to keep up that pathetic reputation that you have up with the Deku tree. I could ruin you in a single conversation you disrespectful little-" Navi hissed, her volume rising up an octave higher than the Kokiri's.

"You're not getting through here!" Mido interrupted with a cry.  
"I can get through anywhere in the forest that I damn well want to!"  
"Not with him!" Mido roared, pointing a finger at me. I shifted uncomfortably in my boots. This was getting out of hand.

"Link is under my care now," the fairy replied sternly, "and I am under orders to take him to see the Deku Tree. I'll say this one more time; Get. The hell. Out. Of the way."

"No!" Mido replied stubbornly.  
"Then I have no further choice than to-"  
"He doesn't have a sword! Or a shield!" The clearing was dead silent. Navi's mouth hung open in disbelief.

_...what?_

"What does he need a weapon for?" Navi roared "How many times do you think Kokiri have gone to see the Deku tree? Are you seriously thinking he's going to get hurt?"

My attention was held intently on Mido, awaiting his answer.

Mido sighed, then crossed his arms and tapped a foot in annoyance.

"The Deku tree did give me _some_ orders today," he admitted in a low voice. My ear twitched under strain from concentrating on Mido's words. I waited for him to continue, which he did after a moment of pause.

"I'm not supposed to let anyone through without a sword and shield today," Mido finished. In satisfaction, I lowered my head and curved my lips into a smile that was masked with strands of blonde hair. Mido had just, unnoticeably, given me the answer to winning this little game.

I had to find a sword. And a shield.

_Simple enough._

In one swift movement I unfolded my arms and turned on my heel, back into the masses of trees, listening with amusement as Navi continued to hinder Mido with her temper.

"What kind of excuse is that? Are we seriously having this conversation right now? What kind of stupid, incoherent idiot are you to come up with... hey, are you even listening to me?" Navi accused sharply as Mido gaped open-mouthed in my direction. In confusion, Navi followed Mido's gaze towards my figure, disappearing into the distant woods.

"Hey, Link, wait up!" Navi shouted at me from across the clearing. I briefly glanced backward in reply as I continued to walk away. I could see Mido frown at me in confusion before turning. Navi said a final thing to Mido quickly, and then twisted to face me. Swiftly she fluttered her wings and caught up with me within ten seconds.

"Where are you...?" She gasped, out of breath.

"Are you ready to go?" I replied shortly.

"No! Well... I guess so." The fairy looked behind with a pout. "I was just about to really give him a piece of my mind, you know."

I laughed. "I thought you already did that."

"No way!" She definitely looked surprised. "That was nothing."

"I guess I have a pretty temperamental fairy for a partner then, huh?"

Navi snorted.

"That's one way to put it."

I smirked at her response. That was definitely a good thing for me, considering that whenever Mido started hassling me around, she would probably have my back. My eyes drifted upwards to the sparkling fairy flying above my head. Briefly, our eyes met, and a spark pulsed through my body before we both looked away, embarrassed. I wondered if Navi would really have my back when I needed her.

Possibly.

Maybe.

"So where exactly are we going?" the fairy questioned, a little awkwardly.

"Not sure." I replied.

"What?" Navi stopped flying abruptly, and looked at me in disbelief. Noticing her unease, my footsteps slowed gradually until they eventually stopped. I stared back at the fairy from a few paces away.

"What was all _that_ for then?" she groaned.

"Trust me." I nodded my head in the direction of the deepening forest and smiled reticently.

"I have an idea."

* * *

**A/N:**

**My computer broke.**

**The screen cracked, and it was oozing out this weird, black liquidy stuff.**

**It was greasy.**

**_-Jellisoup_**

**(No playlist this week because my computer was broken while I wrote. -_-)**


	6. The Blade of a Hero

Chapter 5: The Blade of a Hero

_"A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage... You must use your courage to seek power...and find it you must. Only then will you become the hero for whom this world despairs."_

**Hero's Shade, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess**

"Watch out!"

I snapped my head back just in time to view the giant boulder rolling towards me, crushing everything beneath its path. Instinctively my body jerked, and I sprang out of the path of danger, just narrowly avoiding the flattening crush of the rock. Suddenly out of breath, I brought a hand to my chest and followed the path of the boulder with weary eyes until it disappeared around a distant corner. I breathed deeply, trying to concentrate on the repetitious path of the rock and on finding a way through the pathway that would not result in my death.

"Well that was pretty stupid move-" Navi remarked sharply, suddenly by my side once again. I glanced up at her briefly, curious to how she managed to avoid the boulder along with me, but later forgot the thought. She was a fairy. Frankly, I wasn't even going to bother to ask.

"Why did we even come here anyway?" the fairy continued to grumble. "I could have dealt with Mido just fine back there, you know." I took a tedious step back onto the main, boulder-occupying path when the rumbling of the boulder seemed to quiet, ignoring her and trying to concentrate. My eyes darted to either sides of me, taking in my surroundings. I had to try to find a way through the path that wouldn't end up killing me. Abruptly, as if in response to my thoughts, I heard a great rumbling, and the boulder once again came hurtling towards me. I leapt back to the safe spot behind me in response, just narrowly avoiding getting crushed. My mind whirred with adrenaline and thought. _How long did it take for the boulder to come back? It was around 30 seconds..._

Navi's breathless voice reached me again.

"For Christ's sake Link!" she cried. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

"I'll be fine!" I snapped back, impatiently. How was I possibly supposed to think with my annoying fairy constantly yapping away in my ear? I had to concentrate on the boulder.

The rumbling died down again as the rock rolled past the far corner. My muscles tensed as they prepared to spring. I took a deep breath to calm myself and counted to three.

_One, two..._

In a rush of movement, I leaped from my hiding place and started to sprint down the farthest narrow corridor. I could hear Navi faintly protesting behind me, but I didn't stop to look back in my rush to find a way through the puzzle before getting flattened. When I reached the corner where the boulder disappeared from view, I skidded to a halt.

Ahead of me was a narrow foot-trail: so faint that it was almost invisible next to the trees surrounding it. I did some quick math and concluded that I was most likely small enough to squeeze my way through it. It lead upwards in a casual slope to a meagre hill covered with ankle-snatching weeds and protruding roots. And it was going in the exact opposite direction of the crushing boulder behind me.

"Bingo." I breathed.

Navi flew up around my head from somewhere behind me and stared wide-eyed down the passage. Light seemed to emanate from it as she stared, encouraging me to travel down it. Instinctively, my feet began to move forward towards the tempting spew of light. I was stopped, suddenly, from my captivated state, by the piercing cry of Navi's high-pitched voice.

"Wait a second, buddy!"  
"What is it now?" I replied in an irritated tone.  
"Is it really a good idea to go down a path that you can barely walk on?"  
"What do you mean?" I asked, impatiently. Navi sighed and rolled her eyes.  
"I don't trust that path. I don't know, I just have a hunch." I paused for a moment, thinking.

"Well, you know what?" I said, after a second, turning on my heel. "I have a hunch too." I began to quickly travel up the path, side-stepping the tripping roots and weeds. Navi yelled at me from behind, but I barely heard her as the light before me grew brighter. My eyes began to shut in protest to the brightness, and my feet started to guide my way instinctively past the obstacles on the forest floor. When I had reached the end of the path, I quickly opened my eyes and stared in wonder at the magnificent, long forgotten chest that sat in front of me. It was ancient: half of it crumbling to dust on the ground upon which it lay. The light that I had followed spilled from its edges -nearly transparent - and seemed to originate from the forest floor that it was placed upon. I stood for a moment and held my breath in anticipation as I waited for Navi to catch up to me. She did, after another few seconds, and began to criticize me in irritation.

"Are you stupid? What the hell was that back there? Do you want to get yourself killed? You can't just run blindly into the forest like that, you idiot!"

I tilted my head back to look at her.

"Check it out." Navi rolled her eyes impatiently and spoke sarcastically.  
"Oh yes, it's fantastic. A crumbling old chest. A wonderful find, Link, and now it's time to leave before whatever's in it decides to come out and kill us."  
"I want to open it first-" I mumbled softly, stepping towards it with outstretched arms.  
"No!" Navi yelped, fluttering towards me in panic. She waved her wings in my face in an attempt to distract me from the captivating chest.  
"I think we should go before we die, Link. What do you think, hmm?" Navi crowed desperately. I didn't answer her, but instead continued to walk towards the chest. I touched the soft, rotting wood with careful fingers and cracked it open slightly. More light burst from the inside, so forceful that it blew back the hair from my forehead. I could faintly hear Navi's voice increasing in pitch behind me, but it only edged me on to open the chest further. I began to lift it another finger's-width and more light flashed before my eyes. The chest was open halfway now, and I could faintly see the glistening hilt of the treasure inside. With a final effort I opened the lid fully and flung it backwards. A great explosion of luminosity shot out from the chest into the sky above, illuminating the forest around us in gold. Even Navi was too transfixed by the old power of the treasure to say anything further. The glow began to proceed, and a grin played about my lips in anticipation as my footsteps drew me forward to stare over the edge of the chest. My breath drew back in wonder and I reached a hand inside to grab the end of the cache. When I brought it out of the chest, it glinted with the sheen of pure metal. My arm pumped with adrenaline as I rose the item above my head: it was a sword of magnificent metal, crafted with the skill of a steady hand and a talented blacksmith. The hilt was made of the smooth wood of the forest, and was engraved with two small letters in a swooping script:

_Kokiri Sword._

Navi stared at the sword with a look of wonder as I held it up before her. I grinned, feeling a great sense of accomplishment in my find, then lowered the blade to inspect it.

"I can't believe... I mean..." Navi stammered. I waited patiently for her to her gain composure. After a long pause, she began to speak again in a soft voice.

"I've heard legends about there being a sword hidden away in these forests, but I never actually believed that they were... real." Her eyes shifted in amazement at the greenery around her. The branches of the trees rustled in the wind in soft reply. Shivers ran up and down my spine as I weighted the blade with a strong grip.

"How did you know..." She spoke again "To look... here?"

I thought for a few moments before responding with bated breath.

"I just had... a sense I guess? There was something that just drew me here, this strange, old power..." I glanced up at her again. A few minutes of silence passed between us. My hearing seemed to be hypersensitive to the noises of the natural environment as the time ticked away.

Navi then seemed to regain her normal equanimity, and spoke in a sly tone.

"Well, then. What are you waiting for?"

"What?" I eyed her curiously.

"It's a sword," She snorted "What do you think it's for?" I shrugged and she rolled her eyes.

"Just, give it a swing!" She exclaimed in an irritated tone.

"Oh, right." I returned my focus to the blade and squinted my eyes in response to the sun that bounced off of the bright metal. In one swift motion, I raised my arm and swung the sword in a clean movement.

"Very good." Navi looked mutually impressed. "You're a natural."

I grinned with a surge of exhilaration and shifted my weight to a more natural fighting stance. I raised my arm again, but this time bent my elbow to draw the sword into a horizontal motion. The sword hissed as it cut through the air, the sound echoing off of the wood of the trees.

Navi continued to watch, giving small pieces of advice and encouragement as I worked my way through numerous numbers of basic sword techniques. Though I had never held a weapon of such power before in my life, thefighting actions seemed to come naturally to me. After an hour of tedious work, I collapsed to the forest floor in exhaustion. The sword clattered to my feet as I panted and wiped the beads of sweat from my forehead. Navi flew done to my level and eyed the sword cautiously while I attempted to regain my strength.

"I just want to warn you Link," the fairy spoke. Her voice was low with a hint of anxiety. "A sword like this was made for the intent of battle, and nothing more. If used in the wrong hands, or misused for the wrong situation, it can turn deadly. The fact that you picked it up and have used it means that its power has returned after a long period ofslumber. It is bound to be restless, and will have a craving to spill blood unless it is used as intended. Because you picked it up, that sword now considers you its master, and it will try to manipulate you to its liking unless you control it." There were notes of urgency in her tone as she spoke, and the trees around her creaked angrily in response to her words. A dark shade suddenly fell over the clearing, and gusts of wind blew violently around my ears in a strange, desperate hiss. The sunlight from earlier had completely disappeared. I observed the change in the forest silently and waited for the fairy to finish before I responded to her in a teasing voice.

"You'd better stop saying stuff like that," I smirked. "I think you're pissing off the forest."

The fairy's cheeks turned a bright red and her voice sounded pressing when she spoke.

"How would you know? You know nothing about these woods. The trees are restless because of your disturbance of their treasure. We should leave now, without the sword, before they get truly angry with us."

I glanced upwards to the sky quickly, noticing the storm of clouds gathering and brewing above me. Navi followed my gaze and spoke with a dreadful tone beneath her breath.

"That's not good..."

I sighed and brushed the dirt off of my knees before standing up.

"And that's why we are going to leave now." I spoke conclusively. Picking the sword back up from off the ground, I returned it to a scarlet scabbard made of sturdy leather that I had found in the chest along with the sword. It slid into place easily as metal connected snugly with leather. I tied the scabbard to my belt quicklyas I prepared to leave the clearing. Navi started rambling nervously again, so, in response, I spun around on my heel and began a brisk walk down the path leading to the clearing and out of the forest.

"Great! Alright, so all we need to do is go back over to that chest, and put the sword right back in. I wonder how we can get the chest to close again... there was a lot of light..." Navi continued to wonder aloud, until she noticed that I wasn't actually following her.

"I guess if we snap it shut quickly enough... Hey! Link! Where are you going?" the fairy cried from behind me. I grin played about my lips as she flew towards me.

"Link! We have to go back!" She exclaimed breathlessly, glancing around her frantically. The trees had continued to thicken and grow darker, and their branches almost blocked out the entire sky above us. Noticing the strange change in the woods around us, my footsteps began to subconsciously quicken. Abruptly, there seemed to be more branches and natural obstacles before me on the path home, making it difficult to manoeuvre through the forest efficiently. The wind picked up even more as we travelled farther and farther away from the clearing, snapping my hair back from against my forehead. It whipped around us in freeing gusts, sending shivers of dread throughout my body.

Navi spoke again, very quickly in a tone dripping with anxiety and sickened awe.

"The trees are voicing their outrage," she breathed. "Without their treasure, they will not let us escape these woods."

I snorted half-heartedly.

"You're starting to sound like Saria." I said.

She looked at me uneasily.

"I'm guessing you won't consider turning around." She asked, half-heartedly.

I grimaced with satire.

"Look at that. You already know me too well."

* * *

It was entirely more difficult to navigate our way through the forest back to the village. The trees had, impossibly, seemed to find a way of moving when our backs were turned, which had gotten us hopelessly lost. Eventually, after hours of treading along the same path in a circle, I started to mark the trees that we had passed with a small X, by means of my newly-found sword. Bu, even that did nothing to help - and was not well received by the forest - that seemed to grow angrier and more vicious with every step we took. After a few burning scratches caused by sharp branches, and trips over precarious rocks, I finally stumbled to my knees in exhaustion. There was no way that I could go on any further under these circumstances.

"Come on Link, get up," Navi said, irritatingly. I breathed heavily, not answering her. After a few minutes of silence, she lost her patience with me and spoke again.

"I want to say I told you so but..."

"Navi, just shut up." I growled, losing my control over the situation.

The calm air about the fairy had cracked. Her eyes whipped towards me, and she snapped.

"Where the hell do you get off talking to me like that? It was your own bright idea to come into this forest, and you were the one who chose not to listen to me when I told you to leave that stupid sword behind!"

"Dammit!" I yelled, getting up quickly and kicking the object closest to me. The bark of the tree that my foot connected to shivered from its roots to the tips of its branches, causing leaves to snap off and drift to the ground. My eyes followed a leaf that floated past my head silently.

"Stupid!" The fairy cried. "You're just going to make it worse!"

"Well, excuse me for not respecting your precious forest!" I spat back, turning my back to the tree. I probably should have noticed the shadow that then outlined the edges of my body in darkness, but I was too busy arguing with my partner to pay attention. I did notice, however, Navi's mouth snap shut and her bright eyes widen in horror. I had just enough time to tilt my head upwards towards the branches of the tree before being engulfed in wood. I could just barely make out the faint outline of a face on the bark before I was swallowed up. The soft, hollow shell of the tree muffled my scream.

"Link!" the fairy cried from outside of the wood. Desperately, I flailed my arms and tried to struggle, but the tree had caught me in a strong hold of roots and thick branches. From inside, I could hear the laughter and whispering of a train of broken up voices, seeming to interlay in a language that I did not recognize. I tried to scream again, but a branch suddenly came out from the darkness and clamped my protesting mouth shut. All I could do was listen desperately to the shrill of my fairy's voice from outside of the prison.

"You let him go right now!" The fairy shrieked and bounced against the walls of the tree a couple times, causing it to laugh in that strange language again. The tree then spoke in a bellowing voice, originating from its roots. The sound oozed through the bark and travelled to Navi's waiting ears. It was still speaking the same language, but this time I heard a response from Navi in a tone that was almost identical to the trees'. The conversation went on for an excruciatingly long amount of time, after which the tree rumbled as if it were trying to spit something up. Then, suddenly, the grip holding my arms, legs and mouth were released and I was pushed back into the outside world. The smell of the forest air filled my nose faintly before I landed face-down into a pile of mulched-up leaves on the ground. I could hear Navi's high-pitched voice very clearly now as she spoke to the tree once again in my own language.

"I thank you enormously, Oh Great Elder of the forest. There are many who do not realize his importance in the fate of our new world. Those, including himself." She eyed me with a deathly glare.

The tree laughed again, and responded to Navi in its own strange language, rustled its leaves for the last time and then stood frozen on the ground, almost as if the encounter had never come to pass. Getting up, I spat leaves out my mouth and tried to clear my throat of all lingering forest waste.

"You get stupider every moment I spend with you," the fairy grumbled impatiently. When I had finished brushing the debris off of my clothes, I got to my feet again.

"What did it say?" I asked.

"It was speaking in an ancient language that none but the Guardians and the ancient folk of this forest know," she replied, nodding towards the gnarled tree. "The tongue was of Hylian descent, that of which I will not utter again in this forest, to avoid angering the trees further."

I acknowledged the tree again, my head spinning with this new information. It was humbling to learn that there was much about the forest that I didn't already know, despite the fact that I had lived in it for years.

The branches of the trees before us suddenly parted, giving way to a path free of visible roots and other altercations. It was reasonably short: the glow of the sun pierced through the damp air near the end of it. The light illuminated off of the greenery of the trees and shrubs that seemed to stretch towards it to soak in its glow. Navi spoke once more.

"This tree has convinced the others of this forest to set aside a pathway back to the village for us to follow. We should make haste quickly, and please, Link, try not to stray again."

I nodded my head in careful admiration, and moved my legs to take off at an efficient, but not overly straining, run towards the sunlight at the end of the path. There were no branches or roots blocking our path, but the trees still seemed to be sliding past each other as we moved, all of them trying to inch as close as they could towards the sun weakening. The trees that we passed closed the path behind us with an eerie laugh that crumbled to silence through my ears.

* * *

I bursted from the hazy overhanging of foliage, out of breath and gasping for air. Leaning my hands on my knees, I panted breathlessly, with images of the strange forest flying at incomprehensible speeds through my mind. My brain was shot, and non functional due to the heat and radiation of the rising sun. I couldn't seem to catch hold of any of the scenes that flew through my short memory. Neither Navi nor I spoke for minutes, giving ourselves time to catch our breath after the extended sprint we had just ran throughout the forest. We were now standing before the entrance of the woods, marked by a canopy of gnarly oak trees that wound their way in and out of the branches of near trees. My voice broke the silence in the air around us with a slow hiss.

"What the _hell_ happened back there?"

Navi exhaled in a whoosh of held exasperation before answering.

"I'm not entirely sure myself. I'm actually really surprised that we made it out of there alive. Just promise me this Link," she spoke, glancing at me "you won't get another brilliant idea to go into those woods again."

"Believe me," I answered with a dry laugh. "I won't take one step into that forest again." I shook my head in disbelief. "You never told me that you could actually talk to the trees."

Navi stared disdainfully into the distance, seemingly dawned with an old memory.

"The language was an ancient form of the old tongue of Hylian, the spoken word of the Gods." she whispered. "The magical entities that have survived for thousands of years in this world are the only ones to use it nowadays. What you heard was a branch of the original language, a style spoken only by the spirits that inhabit the trees in this forest."

The new information spun around in my already unstable mind.

"And why have you never told me any of this?" I asked.

"It is not your place to understand."

"And it's yours?" I seethed, my voice taking on a whining tone. I knew I was getting annoying, but I didn't care. I was tired of these secrets, tired of things being kept from me. I wanted answers, and right now, it seemed like Navi had them. The fairy snapped her head towards me then and spoke with a sneering air.

"I know things that you would never even _begin _to understand." She spoke "I've been around millenniums before you were even born. I've known these woods since the very beginning of time, since before the flow of the earth had even reached its natural cycle. You are foolish, and very vain, to think that you are in any position to ask me such things. You are only a mere, lowly human. A human child, for that matter, and you somehow think that you are capable of understanding? Don't make me laugh. I know things that would destroy the balance in your mind, things that would change all natural order in your world and turn it upside down. As your guardian, it is my job to teach you all that I can, but teaching you what I know throughout your lifetime would only scratch the surface of my knowledge. You have yet to understand that some things, _most_ things, you will have to figure out on your own, and yet, I know that you might never reach that spot of understanding because of your ignorance." The heat coated on the fairies words eased away as she spoke, and after her last breath she paused for a moment to sigh and stare at me intently.

"I am a fairy, but do not take it that I know everything." she said. "I don't know why the Deku Tree has asked to meet with you. I don't know why he sent me to be your guardian instead of any other fairy, but I do know that it is acceptable to modify what I choose to tell you." She shook her head and started moving away from me in a slow, enchanting flight. I watched her go, my thoughts overflowing like a filled cup of water underneath a flowing stream of liquid. I didn't expect her to continue, but seconds later I heard her add one more thing, very quietly so that I had to strain to hear her words.

"You are so very foolish Link... but I don't know exactly what I expected."

Her words carried over to my ears on the breath of the wind. It was in that moment that something seemed to click inside of my mind. Suddenly, the world didn't seem so strange anymore: not quite so alone. My eyes widened in a sudden, overwhelming emotion. Memories swirled around my head that were difficult to grasp; I couldn't concentrate on a singular one without the others disappearing. I felt a strange feeling in my chest... something _whole_, as if I had just rediscovered some great truth about myself. It was a feeling that I hadn't experienced since I had parted with Saria. I stared at the fairy with new eyes: eyes that recognized some bizarre memory we both shared that I had forgotten over the years.

I spoke then, but my voice was so soft that even I could hardly decipher it.

"I remember."

The fairy's wings stopped beating abruptly, and she hovered in the air for a brief second before they started to flutter rhythmically again. A silent moment of realization passed between us; I heard nothing but the soft shuffling of the wind and the sound of my own breathing.

"What are you talking about?" The fairy whispered while she turned to face me my curious eyes. Her expression was timeless: frozen in awe, masked over as she tried to hide her shock.

"I remember from before." I spoke again, this time with a deeper breath of confidence. "The place that we met when I was really young." Sparks of scenes dissolved one by one throughout my head; a green meadow, a blue fairy, my own tears running through the dirt...

My eyes glanced up again at Navi in hope, but were changed to disappointment when she turned away from me once again. Her voice, strained and painfully soft, came to me once again.

"I don't know what you're talking about." she said. The finality of her words made it clear that our conversation was over. With a stray hand, and bitter disappointment pursing through me, I absentmindedly reached to my belt, where my newly acquired sword fit snugly. I let my fingers curl around the hilt; tough leather responded to the nerves at the edges of my touch. Every nerve in my body seemed to be shot with some feeling that I couldn't quite explain. With a sigh I let my hand drop to the soft earth, face-up. Etched into my skin, the mysterious pattern of the triangles on my hand illuminated brighter than I had ever seen it before. I stared at them silently, the feeling of disappointment melting away from body, leaving an urge to push on, to persevere through this journey with determination. My fists clenched and I snapped my head back up to my fairy partner, who, still flying away from me, was becoming merely a faint outline against the bright sky. A cry escaped from my lips, unthinking and reckless.

"Hey, Navi! Wait up!"

My body picked itself up, and suddenly, I was sprinting. My new feelings shook free from my body as I ran- seething into the soil below my feet- but the memories of the meadow and the strange fairy I had met there lingered on in the back of my mind. The memories were ready to be put to use after so many years hidden away in the shadows.

Navi met my gaze with a look of surprise in my sudden change of mood.

"What is it?"

"You can't leave without knowing where we're going next can you?" I teased, brushing stray dirt off of my tunic.

The fairy's eyes rolled to the sky.

"Where to next, oh brilliant one?" she replied with sarcasm.

"To the Kokiri Store, actually." I answered. "I need to pick up a few things."

The fairy looked smug and disapproving.

"Oh, and just so you know..." I spoke, busying myself with examining my hands. "I didn't expect to find an actual sword in that forest. I was just looking for, you know, a weapon or something."

She looked sceptical.

"Really... and what exactly would you need a weapon for, oh great hero?"

"Getting back at Mido." I replied, my eyes narrowing. "How else do you think we would be able to get through his security?"

Navi's laugh chimed behind me, back to her usual self. Or so it seemed.

* * *

**A/N:**

I would like to take the time to thank my fabulous editor, **Mdevi**, for putting in so much time and effort to edit this for me. Thanks for all your patience, criticism and input that goes towards making this story the best that it can be. You're awesome!

I would also like to thank all of the fans that have recently been reviewing, reading and e-mailing me about the story since its re-edit and re-publishing on the site. I try to answer all of your e-mails, questions and reviews to the best of my ability. All of your input is really helpful, encouraging and very inspiring! :)

My new update day is Sunday. New chapters will be posted then, along with any oneshots that I have written.

This is kind of spammy to note here, but I haven't gotten as many reviews as I would like on a new Fullmetal Alchemist oneshot of mine: _Memories_. To any Fma fans: check out the story on my profile and review if you have the time.

In other news, in today's chapter: Link gets thrown up on his head and swallowed by a tree.

...

Yeah, I don't know either.

_-Jellisoup_

**~Playlist~**

**Headlock- Imogen Heap. **_(It's eerie and kind of haunting sounding... just like the forest in this week's chapter_.)

**Walking with a Ghost- Tegan and Sara.**

**This is Not the End- The Bravery.**

**In my Place- Coldplay. **_(I imagine this song playing when Navi and Link begin to reminisce about their past experiences... It's a little nostalgic.)_

**Adventures in Solitude- The New Pornographers_._**_("We thought we'd lost you, welcome back." Yeah, just totally fits Navi and Link, right?)_

**_*Full credit goes to the musical artists/whoever makes this music. You guys are awesome. Many thanks for providing inspiration.*_**


	7. Legends and Tutors

Chapter 6: Legends and Tutors

"_Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.__"_

**-Maria Robinson**

The first part of my plan was now complete. Well, sort of. Having not expected to find an actual sword in the forest, I had lost a lot of precious time - time that I needed in order to complete the last part of my preparations. I would have to complete the second part quickly, without the opulence of leisure that I had counted on originally. Luckily, the later was the more planned of the two. I knew exactly what I needed and where to find it. With only a mere sword to defend myself with, I was sure that I was not going to be able to get through Mido's tough security. But with this last final piece of protection, I figured that I could, at the very least, fight my way through him.

I smiled eagerly as the sight of the Kokiri Store came into view over the hills.

* * *

I told Navi to wait for me outside before I entered the quaint building. She looked slightly annoyed that she had to wait for me, but obeyed without protest. I entered the store just as the spring sun began its slow descent into the earth to signal the end of another day.

Inside the store was nothing less than utter chaos. The store was the only one of its kind in the area, remote miles away from the rest of normal civilization. Rather, that was what the Kokiri race had chosen to believe. Most of us had, after all, never left the comfort of our own homes before, and surely did not intend to.

The havoc that hung about the room was something that most of the children in the forest considered to be rather normal. It was the only place nearby that supplemented goods – for a hefty price - to the village. The cooking supplies, clothing fabric and firewood that the store provided were generally regarded by most to be necessities to our race, considering that most of us lived off of the land surrounding the forest. I entered the building to a green sea of Kokiri waving, yelling, jumping and causing other forms of commotion. The place was rather small, considering the amount of people packed into it, and round in shape: carved into the great roots of an old, hollowed-out oak tree. On the wall opposite of the entryway hung racks of pots and pans for cooking, and multiple bottles of foreign spices. To the very right of it stood another wall, nearly identical, besides being filled from top to bottom with amateur weapons for children; it was this wall that grabbed my attention. Slowly and carefully, I began to pick my way through the crowd, making my way towards it. As I waded through the mob, I could hear the rising cry of voices around me, all bidding on one item held up by an auctioneer near the front of the crowd. Although the children's voices were loud, the auctioneer's was louder, and it was easy to distinguish his hearty tone from other noises in the room.

"Do I hear a twenty? Yes! Twenty-rupees for the lovely, burn resistant stew pot! Twenty-five? Is there a twenty-five out there in that fine group of Kokiri?"

The crowd lurched forward and a shrill voice was heard over the ruckus.

"Twenty-seven!" it cried.

"Twenty-seven to the lovely young lady in the front row!" the auctioneer replied keenly.

"Do we have a thirty in the house? A thirty-two? Yes? No?"

I rolled my eyes at the ordeal as I passed by. It was astonishing to me how much commotion could be caused over a simple pot.

Eventually, when I reached the wall of weaponry, I was greeted by a small, squat looking man that was a few inches too short to look over top of the counter placed in front of him. He was wearing the typical green garb of the Kokiri, although his facial features showed that he was of another race. His cheeks were puffy and red: a jolly looking man. His eyes matched the green of his clothes, and his dirty blonde hair was concealed underneath a pointed cap placed atop his head. I didn't see him until I had reached the counter, jutting out a few feet from the wall, and leaned upon it, inspecting the products the covered the wall. I was startled when his two eyes appeared above the countertop, crinkled near the edges like two slips of thin, broken paper. His eyes were hard, but fair and they drew a wave of timidity over me when I noticed them.

The man looked me up and down before speaking in a crisp, hard voice.

"May I help you?"

"Yes," I said, trying desperately to hear his voice over the roaring crowd.

"I'm looking for-" the crowd blared as the auctioneer called out a new price, and my voice rose to a near yell.

"A shield!" I cried. "I'm looking for a shield!"

"One moment please." the man replied coolly. I watched him as his eyes blinked and he disappeared through an unnoticeable door in the back. He didn't return for a few long moments. While I waited for him, I busied myself with watching the results of the auction. It wasn't until the cooking pot was sold off to a short girl with bobbing red hair and freckles that the man returned empty-handed.

"I'm sorry," The man spoke shortly. "We're out."

Annoyance flashed across my face. I knew it wasn't true. It was only yesterday that I had walked past the store and had seen the shield displayed in the front window. I remembered it had caught my eyes due to its artistic swirl painted upon the front in a magnificent shade of red.

"I saw that shield on display in the front of this store yesterday," I spoke, my tone rising indignantly. "Nobody could have bought it so quickly."

"As I've already said," the man replied sharply. "We're out."

Heat flared before my eyes, hazing my vision for a brief second.

"Now you listen to me," I spoke bitterly. "That shield is really important for me to have and-"

"Excuse me," the man spoke again, his voice rising in slight irritation. "But this is my store. As I've said twice before, we are currently out of that item. If you have a problem with that, you're welcome to leave." He raised his hand towards the door that lead back out into the forest. His eyes were narrowed in a furrowed stare.

My final composure cracked as I clenched my fists in impatience.

"I'm really sorry about this," I said, attempting to keep my words calm. "But I really need that shield."

Suddenly, my arm shot out onto the table and grasped the edge, hoisting myself up over top of it. In a single, swift movement I cleared the countertop, leaping past the shocked glare of the man with ease. My feet caught the ground on the other side with a light touch. The sword in my scabbard clinked softly as I landed, and I grinned smugly with a silent sense of triumph.

It was then that I felt strong hands grip my shoulder and pin my arms behind my back. I gasped in surprise as I was thrown forward, caught in the hold of the store owner. He sneered as he leaned in closer to my ear, speaking in a cautionary hiss.

"Are you ready to leave yet, _sir?_"

I grimaced with discomfort. "Not a chance-" I replied.

Immediately, one of my arms twisted out from underneath the man's grip and I bucked forward, flipping him backwards into the air. He was faster than I expected, though, and managed to turn himself in the air, so that his feet would land before I was ready to counter. When he landed, his arm shot out from under him, aiming for a spot of impact on my chest. I ducked to the side before his palm managed to connect with my skin, but was caught unexpectedly off-balance in my dodge. They world seemed to move in slow-motion as he smiled grudgingly at me, as if he had expected me to lose my balance. I watched as his fist came down upon me, connecting, finally, with my chest and knocking the wind out of me. I immediately plunged to the ground, landing with a crash against one of the far walls, and knocking some of the items for sale off of the counter onto the uninviting floor. All was deadly silent as nearly every eye in the store turned towards the source of commotion we had caused. I panted painfully as the silence rang throughout my numb ears. The store owner grinned triumphantly and brushed his hands together in smug success.

He turned his eyes to meet the shocked stares of the Kokiri in the store and chuckled menacingly as he addressed them.

"Nothing to see here folks!" he exclaimed complacently. His narrowed eyes turned back towards me, glittering with conquest.

"Just a little pig who's lost his mother."

"You'll take that back," I breathed softly as I put a hand towards my shoulder. The room returned to its normal volume as I reached, although my own movements seemed painfully slow. My fingers brushed against the soft leather of the hilt of my sword as I reached behind me. Gently, I eased the sword from its scabbard with a growing smirk. Shining metal glowed from the hilt as it was released with a soft hiss. The man's eyes grew wide with shock as I released the blade, and his stature stiffened to that of fear, as it seemed to me. I grew with confidence at the sight of his discontent and I inched the sword out further, ready to spring forward with another quick attack.

It was then that the man moved, in a blur of unimaginable speeds, and pounced towards me, gripping my withdrawing arm and clamping a firm hand over-top of my mouth. I struggled as he stared at me with a stern look of wonder, and heat flared up in the arm that he had pinned to the wall behind me. The heat seemed to travel through my arm and pool underneath the skin of my left hand. A cry escaped my lips as the heat flared up, muffled by the grasp of the man's arm. I screamed in agony as the pressure heightened along with my own anger. Suddenly, a thin light emitted from my hand in the shape of a triangle, split into three sections. The man's widened eyes turned towards it along with mine as the light shot brightly into the air around us. We both stared in amazement as the glow disintegrated in response to my ceased struggle and melted anger. The man returned his eyes towards mine, now hardened critically, and I blushed in spite of myself, feeling suddenly out of place and vulnerable under his firm glare. Abruptly, he spoke, easing my embarrassment.

"Follow me." He spoke urgently, but quietly, and released his grip upon me. I gasped as his hand was removed from my mouth, and rubbed my flaring wrist that was free from his painful grasp in discomfort. My eyes travelled downwards to my hand, seeing a ring of inflamed, red skin around my wrist, but no other trace of the triangle that had appeared on the face of it. I stared curiously at my skin for a while, confused to why it had disappeared so suddenly. The man slowly stood up as I did, heaving at the effort, and glared at me with urgency, causing my glance to shift towards him in confusion. It was then that I realized that I had the chance to flee from the store and save myself from being further questioned. I spent no longer than a moment on the thought. My curiosity fuelled at the thought of what had happened and I remembered, again, my earlier mission: to retrieve a shield before returning to Mido. Instead of fleeing, I swallowed a growing lump in my throat and followed the man through a door in the back, the rambling of the auctioneer and bidding children ringing through my ears.

The room we entered was covered from floor to ceiling with glinting blades of swords and weapons of a magnificent lustre. Their metal reflected off of the setting sunlight beaming through an open window in the room as we entered and glinted off of the floor, creating an abyss of superlative glow. I gasped in amazement as I entered, not expecting to find such a fantastic collection of weaponry in the back of the humble store. The store owner closed the door behind him, and locked it with a small, gold key before turning towards me.

"It is very unexpected for someone like you to be entering this room." He spoke softly, devoid of the hostility that had coated his words earlier.

"What do you mean?" I replied, quizzically.

"I mean, that no-one besides me and the others in my family lines have ever been present in this room before, save for you," he answered, raising a hand towards a crude looking stool that stood beside him, and resting upon it. He motioned towards another figure of the same stature behind me, and I accepted the notion gladly. As I sat down, the blade fixed to my belt clinked uneasily, and a light flashed beneath the pupils of the man's narrowed eyes. I held my gaze upon him uncomfortably, and after a brief silence he began again, this time with a sterner tone.

"You have no idea who you are, do you?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, a flicker of curiosity coursing through my subconscious.

"I always knew that the hero would derive from somewhere within this forest, but I never would have expected him to show in the form of somebody like... _you_." He spoke in amazement, eyeing me carefully. I shifted uncomfortably in my boots.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I questioned nervously.

The man sighed, and laid his hands upon his knees, standing up slowly.

"This must be all very strange to you, so I'll, first, explain to you who I am." As he spoke he walked towards one of the neighbouring walls, and placed a finger upon the metal of one of the swords delicately. My eyes followed him as he moved the finger along the gleaming blade.

"My name is Arobu." He spoke strongly, with a new tone that put me more at ease. I replied to him, in return, with a voice that I tried to lace with meagre confidence.

"My name is Link," I said, and he turned his eyes towards me. He stared at me in silent concentration.

After this brief exchange, he spoke again.

"I opened this shop many years ago, but this area was held dormant for many long years of old by the descendents of my bloodline, the Zutyro family." he said, as if lost in thought. I listened silently as he spoke.

"In my family there is a history of talent in blacksmithing, which skill has been passed down for many years throughout our long history. The first of my grandfathers - the lords of metal, as they were called - were the best of the smithies of Hyrule during the time of the Imprisoning War. My eldest grandfather was one of the Seven Wise who helped in forging the legendary Master Sword. He was one of the first of my family to master the art of metal-forging. After the war, he travelled to this forest, seeking refuge and peace after the bloody accounts that he had endured. His home stood upon this very ground, which now serves as a humble shop for your kind, of which I am the owner."

I understood then why I had thought this man not to be a Kokiri when I had first seen him. His ears were large, bigger than any of that of my race, and his face was grave, riddled with the hardships of a turmoil those of my race had never seen. He was older, too, although he did not look it, as short as he was. After a brief pause the man continued again.

"After his pilgrimage to seek peace of his own, my kindred decided that his taste for metal had not eased after the war. In his old age, he made a final effort to produce a sword that would be acceptable for the people of this forest to wield. His task was to forge a sword that was light enough for the children-like folk to use, yet sharp and bulky enough to defeat even the darkest of enemies. After a time, he managed to do this, and gave it a name: The Kokiri Sword, after the inhabitants of this land."

My eyes widened in response to his words, but I had no time to speak before he began again.

"When I was younger, for a time, I tried to search for the mighty blade, but did not succeed in finding it, for it is a treasure that only the child destined to have it may wield. I believed, though, that someday, the true wielder of the blade would rise up out of this forest, and use the weapon for its intended purposes. But, as my age deepened, my hope began to fade."

"It was only yesterday that I received word from a messenger of the Great Tree that guards this land, The Deku Tree. I was told to remove the very shield that you saw in the window, and to not sell it to anyone that did not fit specific... preferences." I was surprised at his words but did not interrupt until he had finished.

"I agreed to heed the words of The Guardian, but in no way did I expect the wielder of that very sword to bombard my store today!"

I stiffened. I was unsure of whether to trust the man or not. He could have been lying. He could have made up his entire story right there, on the spot. I could have just been in the room of some other random blacksmith.

But something about the adrenaline in his eye and the sincerity of his words caused me to think differently. The day so far had been a whirl of new, strange information, information that, to be honest, scared me. Maybe this man had the answers to my questions. I wanted to know what had happened to the triangular scar on my hand back in the store, why the sword I held harboured such strange qualities, and what, exactly, the history of his family had to do with me. I looked at the skin on the face of my left hand curiously as I pondered these questions. I couldn't recall anything so strange happening to the scar before. It was now etched deep into my hand, barely noticeable against the shine of my skin. I swallowed back a hard lump in my throat as I stared at it. All of this was seriously starting to freak me out.

I lifted my eyes towards the man again. For the first time, I could see him in full view, and I took the few moments in which he was silent to observe him more closely. His looks didn't portray someone who seemed all that important. But, obviously, if the Deku Tree had taken the time to warn him about my arrival, and had prevented me from getting a shield, the man was someone that the Guardian had deemed important for me. But in what way, I didn't know.

I shook my head as I closed my eyes wearily. Things just seemed to be getting weirder and weirder.

"You're wondering what happened back in the store with your hand, aren't you?" Arobu suddenly asked.

I snapped my eyes towards him in question. "How did you know?"

The man sighed, and then smiled warmly towards me.

"It's in the way you stare at it," he said. "It looks like it has been a part of you for a long time."

I relaxed in my seat as his words soothed my alarm. I look at him with careful eyes.

"Do you know anything about it?" I asked.

"Not much-" he replied. "Although, I do know that its symbol represents an object of great power in Hyrule. It is called the triforce, that is said to be the very image of the gods who created this land."

I shivered, uneasy that a symbol of such significance could be permanently etched into my skin.

"Why is it split into three?"

The man sighed and furrowed his eyebrows in concentration, as if trying to remember some old history.

"The pieces represent the strengths of the three creation goddesses: power, wisdom and courage. I do not know which order they pieces go in the symbol, but I do know that sometimes sections of it are deeply shaded to represent the traits of a certain person or thing, when the symbol is used.

My body went cold as he said this. Silently, I thought about the image on my own hand, and the shading that was prominent to the right section of it. Obviously, the man hadn't seen the mark clearly enough to notice, or he would have said something earlier about it.

The man sighed and closed his eyes in weariness.

"That is the extent of my knowledge of the triforce. It is a very powerful and very strange thing, and most about it that was once known is now lost or long forgotten. The information that lives on about it now is mostly just gossip and speculation, but it cannot be denied that the mark that you bear is rather strange within itself, and also very significant." As he finished, he gradually began to make his way to the left wall of the room, towards a tall stack of cabinets with drawers. His fingers hovered above the labels upon them for a minute or so as he read the products within before he laced them through the medal knob of one drawer and pulled it open quickly. I craned my neck from my spot on the stool to try and see what he was pulling out. From his hands, a slab of heavy wood appeared, an engraving of crimson embroidery carved upon its face. The polished wood glittered in the sun as he rose it above his head to inspect it before he turned around to face me.

"I believe this is what you have been seeking today." he said with a small smile. "Besides the treasuring sword of my ancestors."

I quickly flushed, and he began to laugh heartily at my reaction. After a moment, he gazed at me again with stern eyes, and walked towards me with the shield carefully held in his outstretched arms.

"It's yours." he said.

I grazed a hand over the polished woods with widened eyes. Even looking at it now, I couldn't believe the artistry that had gone into carving the shield. The symbol on the front was embellished in the wood by engraved nicks filled with paint, the handle on the back furnished with sturdy leather, entwined with golden threads. As I took the shield from him, I turned it over in my hands and inspected it with trembling hands.

He smiled in response to my awestruck expression, and placed his hands upon his hips.

"Nice, isn't it?"

I nodded bewilderedly and gripped the handle on the back, testing out the sturdiness of it. It was a good size, protecting most of my body when I held it in front of me. Suddenly, with a grin, I threw my hand to my belt and gripped the hilt of my sword. The metal sang in relief as it was released from its encasement. The man jumped back as I brought the sword down in front of me in a quick horizontal slice. He laughed as my eyes widened due to this new sense of empowerment.

"So, it is true." he laughed."You truly are the destined wielder of that sword!"

I glanced at him curiously. He narrowed his eyes determinedly and motioned towards the sword.

"It suits you," he explained. "I've worked with swords for long enough to know when one has found a suitable master."

I nodded carefully and turned the sword in my hands. Sunlight glinted off of the metal as it spun. He was right. The blade had seemed to have strange qualities to it ever since I had picked it up. I thought back to the effect the sword had had on the forest, and Navi's words of caution to me.

"_A sword like that was made for the intent of battle, and nothing more. If used in the wrong hands, or misused for the wrong situation, it can turn deadly..."_

A shudder ran through me. After the fight with Arobu inside of the store, I didn't doubt it. My face hardened as I gripped the hilt of the blade more heavily and lowered it to my side. My gaze turned to Arobu, who was staring intently at the blade with the same apprehension as me. He spoke with in a slow, hard voice.

"Although that blade was made with the intent to do good," he said, "the power of its true nature cannot be denied. Although their creators do a very good job of masking it, a sword is always made with the same intent: to kill."

"How do I prevent it from being misused?" I asked. I felt a soft ripple pulse through the blade. My fingers clenched more tightly around it.

The man's eyes tightened and he smiled thinly.

"The wielder must know how to use it-" he said. In a short, swift movement, he quickly turned upon his heel and headed towards one of the farther walls covered in weapons. My eyes followed his arm as he reached up to grab one of the longer, thinner swords that hung upon the wall. When he had grasped it, he ran a finger along it sullenly, and inspected it closely. I stiffened as a droplet of blood formed upon the skin of his finger, and ran down the metal with a hiss. The sword seemed to be quenched by the taste of blood, and it immediately began to glow in the flushed light as he rose an arm in front of him. He pointed the tip of the sword towards me, inches away from grazing my skin. He smiled ruthlessly as he spoke in a calm demeanour.

"Are you ready for a second round?" he challenged.

I grinned and brought my own sword towards his to graze the metal. As the two connected, a gentle hissing could be heard that rang softly throughout the room. The other weapons on the walls glinted in response to the apprehension.

"Bring it on." I whispered.

He smirked and the sound of metal upon metal crashed throughout the room as he came towards me.

* * *

I panted as I staggered backwards, drops of blood oozing from a newly formed cut upon my face. I glowered at my opponent as I fingered the cut. He smirked back at me and held his stomach painfully; it seemed that I had managed to bruise him somewhere badly in his torso. Silently, I hoped that I hadn't hurt him too badly. Abruptly, he bore white teeth and began to laugh heartily. Despite myself, a chuckle began to form behind my lips and I bursted out into laughter along with him. It took a few moments before both of us could settle down and speak coherently.

"Any doubts that I had had before about you have now disappeared, young swordsman!" he exclaimed. "It is a difficult feat indeed to have touched me with your sword! I can see now that that sword has certainly chosen its rightful owner."

I smiled gratefully back at him. "Thank you, sir."

"You are ready to begin your journeys with that sword, and I am in full confidence that you shall wield it properly, to the end of your days." The man smiled and sheathed his own blade.

I bowed my head respectfully before him. "It is an honour, Arobu."

He began to laugh again. "So you do have manners!" he exclaimed heartily.

A soft smile began to play around my lips. "Only to those who deserve it," I said.

The man's gaze became sterner as he eyed me carefully. "You are young, and have much to learn about the ways of the world." he said. "You would be wise to respect all those that come before you, especially them elder to you."

"Respect must be earned before it is given-" I sighed, letting my sword slide into place at my belt. The man didn't respond until I turned my eyes back upon him.

"You're an arrogant one aren't you?" he proclaimed.

"So I've been told," I replied with a hint of sarcasm. Although the man had taught me the ways of the sword, I still wasn't yet sure if I could completely trust him. His eyes softened to their normal crinkle as he began to walk towards me. His hand was outstretched in a business-like gesture.

"It has been a pleasure, Link," he said as he shook my hand.

"As of mine-" I said.

He motioned a hand towards the door leading back out into the main room of the store as he talked. I followed him out of the room, my eyes tracing the outline of the blades and weapons that covered the walls. They seemed to glow more brightly than ever as I walked away from them: a stronger glow in the form of goodbye.

* * *

I waved to the boy as I watched him walk away. He had returned to his fairy partner once he had gotten outside, and she had urged him to meet with the Deku Tree relatively quickly. It was a short good-bye before he began to travel in opposite direction from me.

_Such curiosity harbours that boy, _I thought.

Although, I now knew why the Deku Tree had sent word to me. He was right to test the boy; he was young and still had yet to learn many things. I had no doubt in my mind that the boy was the destined one from the old tales in the forest. He certainly fit the criteria: blond hair, blue eyes, a triforce shaped upon his left hand... there was also something about him that made me doubt he was a regular Kokiri. He seemed more of Hylian descent to me.

I sighed with weariness. It had been a while since I had had the chance to fight such a strong opponent. I smiled darkly as the pain in my side flared up again. I still couldn't believe that he had managed to hit me so profoundly.

Maybe I was just getting old.

The sun was sinking into the hills as I turned on my heel and headed back into the store. Kokiri children were leaving for the closure of another day. A pink tone was set upon the world as the light of the day disappeared behind the hills.

With a final thought, I glanced behind me towards the forest that the boy had headed into. I could faintly see his green hat bobbing between the dark roots of the trees, and the bright glow of the fairy beside him before he disappeared into the shades of the branches.

A smile crept about my lips as I shook my head in bewilderment.

_Link..._

•·.·´¯`·.·••·.·´¯`·.·••·.·´¯`·.·•

I awoke to the frantic beating of my heart, and a cry tearing from my lips. The dream was unlike any other that I had experienced: dark, bloody and utterly frightening. More like a nightmare than anything else. As I struggled to calm myself, I sat up in my bed and shivered violently, attempting to shake the disturbing images from my mind. In a sudden, frenzied movement the door to my chambers opened briskly, causing me to jump. Seeing her concerned eyes instantly sent a wave of ease crash through me. I looked at her with wide eyes, and bent eyebrows, my nerves shot in response to the images that I had experienced. My concerned face caused her to walk towards me quickly, and sit upon the covers of my bed. She put a hand upon my shoulder as I clutched the warm covers tightly around my small frame. Her words were calm and soothing, coming from slow, experienced lips, and comforted me further.

"Princess, are you alright?" she asked.

"I had a dream." I answered her shakily. I began to tremble again. She sighed and wrapped strong arms around me. Despite my best efforts, I began to sob uncontrollably into her shoulder. She waited for me to gain control of my tears, letting the warmth and comfort of her arms seep into my petrified state. Once I had gained control of myself, I pulled back and glanced at her discontented face. Her eyes were dark and stern as she stared back at me.

"What happened?" she asked.

I swallowed and began to explain, attempting to keep my mind off of the worst of the images.

"There was a man..." I said.

Her eyes instantly narrowed and she reached towards my hand. Her grip helped to release some of my tension as I continued.

"A man..." I choked, and turned my frightened eyes upon her. "From here, in the castle."

She heeded no further reaction of surprise, but instead tried to comfort me as I told her the remainder of the dream.

•·.·´¯`·.·••·.·´¯`·.·••·.·´¯`·.·•

* * *

**A/N:**

_*Early update this week because I won't be around Sunday to upload. Regular updates will resume Sunday next week.*_

Slight AC in this chapter... well, sort of. The owner of the Kokiri Store in Oot is an actual character, but I don't think his name is Arobu, and he definitely isn't a blacksmith.

I have nothing much to say besides I hope you enjoyed and please **review!**

Thanks for reading!

_-Jellisoup_

**~Playlist~**

**Our swords- Band of Horses.**

**Famous Last Words- My Chemical Romance.**

**Believe- The Bravery.**

**Again- Yui.**

**Uso- Sid.**

**Dante- Full Metal Alchemist: The Anime, Orginal Soundtrack.**

_*Full credit goes to the musical artists/whoever makes this music. You guys are awesome. Many thanks for providing inspiration.*_


	8. Things That Go 'Bump' in the Night

Chapter 7: Things That Go 'Bump' in the Night

"_Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.__"_

**-Aristotle**

Ivy snaked through the branches of the giant oaks knitted in a canopy above my head. The sunlight that seeped through the thick blanket of leaves grew darker as the sun sank into the hills in the west. Shadows crept upon the land below in a pink tint, casting long shadows across the forest floor. My footsteps echoed through the sullen trees as I walked; all was silent and still, as if the world was taking a final breath of anticipation before the plunge. The chirping of birds perched upon the thick branches of trees that were heard earlier had gone; the wind that rustled the limbs of the forest had calmed in an anxious sleep. The darkness that washed away the distinction of the land came about the forest silently and without warning, layering upon the unstable air and causing a sharp apprehension to arise within me. My footsteps quickened as I attempted to beat the growing nightfall. Navi's expression had fallen into a tense stare as she flew alongside me; her intentions of getting to the Deku tree before twilight were steadily fading.

My body was cold and hard as I walked. The sun was minimal and did nothing to lighten my doubt; Unease was apparent in my face and body and only quickened my footsteps further. I could sense my cool exterior unravelling with every step nearing me to the Sacred Grove. The very place symbolized my misgivings of what lay ahead- within it lay the answers to the questions about myself that I had longed to know for years. It was hard for me to imagine that my life could change following a single visit to the Guardian of the forest. I wanted to know what tasks fate had appointed me to, but likewise, I was afraid of knowing what could change about myself and my comfortable form of life. Although I couldn't imagine myself remaining in this forest for the duration of my life, I could also not picture leaving it: there were many things that I was still reluctant to leave behind.

I was trying very hard to retain a calm, blank exterior, but the feat was proving to be impossible with the darkening sky and my conflicting thoughts. My nerves were shot, and I felt myself longing to return to the serenity of my home, a comfortable place with warm food to eat and a soft bed upon which to sleep. Despite my best intentions, my pace began to falter as I grew more and more fearful of facing my uncertainties.

The trepidation was nearly unbearable; in an attempt to numb my worries, I drew a blank in my mind and forced myself to think of something more mediate. My thoughts kept escaping me, leading me back to another time and place with Saria and other children that seemed miles away. I shook myself as the memories threatened to pilot my steps towards the direction leading home. As I walked I felt very small and alone, despite being accompanied by the fairy that flew alongside me. Every step that I took lead me farther away from the world that I knew so well. I feared that without it, I wouldn't be entirely sure of who I was. It took everything inside of me to block the questioning negativities that harboured my motives. I swallowed a hard lump in my throat as I realized that facing the Deku Tree might prove to be more difficult than I had originally thought; I had dreamed of this very moment countless numbers of times before, but now that I was actually about to face it, I was reluctant to keep walking towards the very place that I needed to be in order to resolve my own conscience.

I concentrated on taking one step at a time: one foot before the other towards the quest to discover myself.

I was grateful, at least, to not be alone.

* * *

The sunlight dissolved more quickly than I had ever seen it before. The twilight that replaced was reminiscing of events past; the final phases of today's journey were coming to a close, and with every step he took Link was coming closer to realizing the truth. The moment was here, and yet I was surprised by my own misgivings and the doubts that were etched upon the expression of his grim face.

I wondered if maybe, I should have told him more about the situation. More about the prophecy, perhaps, or the role that he played in all of this turmoil. His destiny had been set the very moment of his birth- was it fair to keep his fate from him for so long?

No.

But I had faith in Deku Tree's decision. After many long years of secrecy, the truth would finally be revealed. In a single breath, Link's true calling would be realized and his life would change with permanence.

Despite myself, I had discovered that I still felt a strange longing of my own towards the boy. Although it was better for him to have his questions answered after years of secrecy, I was apprehensive of where that we leave myself. I wasn't sure why Link and I had connected in the way that we had years ago, but I did know that it had managed to change the perspective of my life in comparison to other fairies. If I was separated from Link after today's events, I wasn't sure if I would be able to live with the knowledge that I was different from the others of my kind.

My thoughts remained silent as I flew alongside the boy. Childishly, I began to dread the sight of the archway of leaves that signified the entrance to the Sacred Grove.

This emotional stuff wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.

* * *

I was surprised at how easily Mido let us through; I had expected to greet him in an as equally defensive mood as earlier, a mood that I was, to be honest, rather looking forward to (I was excited to stall the meeting with the Gaurdian as long as possible). But despite my own hopes, I was disappointed to find that Mido greeted us with silence and free passage. His eyes didn't meet mine as he gestured a hand towards the path through the foliage, although his foot tapped quickly upon the ground in irritation. My heartbeat quickened as I walked past him, the sword at my belt clanging uncomfortably against my legs. I didn't pause as we shuffled beneath the overhanging leading towards a new path of trees.

The new way was narrower than any other that I had walked within the forest, but was far more trodden; the ground was hard and packed solidly into the earth due to years of footsteps upon it. The trees surrounding now bore thicker, older roots that were of a different tint than the other trees of the forest, slightly silverish in age. Their roots were gnarled and branches tall, swooping above my head and obscuring the last of the day's sunlight. They bathed everything beneath them in a pale garnish and dropped silent leaves upon the path as we wandered by. White fragments of what seemed like dust floated about the air: particles, almost like cotton, that were produced from the leaves of the ancient trees. Seeds were entwined within the diamond threads that scattered as they fell upon the ground, sprouting new buds in the fertile soil. The air smelled of moss and fresh rain: bright dew glittered as droplets upon blades of grass that grew about the roots of the trees. Patches of petite, butter-yellow flowers grew among the gnarled bark. It was a calm and quiet place: peaceful, but sad in an air that was nearly musing of past years. My eyes moved over the place, awestruck due to the spectacular beauty that befell it. Although my doubts were quelled in response to the splendour of the place, a cold sweat drenched my skin as I walked along. The place had a calming air, brought about by its age; it had the opposite effect upon me, however, because of the sudden loss of sensuality.

The path was long and winding, leading me astray so that I eventually lost all sense of direction. I glanced at Navi hopelessly as I travelled, but she only ushered me along forward without word. I trusted her instinct on guiding me through the woods with haste, despite my own heightening nerves.

Eventually, we came to a sudden break in the trees. Grass began to replace the dirt beneath my feet and the pathway dissolved, giving way to an open field. The forest growth above my head diminished as I stepped forward, and I winced as the glow of the high moon shone suddenly upon my face. When my eyes had adjusted to the light, I blinked carefully and looked around me. The trees had parted, growing now in the shape of a circle overlooking a grand clearing. It took another moment for my eyes to adjust further before I could register the bark of the great oak tree that was rooted in the centre of the clearing.

My gasp was short and wondrous as I caught sight of the tree: a magnificent, vast oak that pillared itself into the painted sky, its branches threatening to touch the stars that twinkled overhead. The bark was a soft brown in colour, rich and mahogany, though looking faded in the pallid moonlight. It's leaves were soft and green, shining like emeralds in the sky. Roots clung to the earth below it like the talons of a bird, thick and strong. While I gapped at the marvellous sight before me, Navi seemed to brighten, the view of the tree coming upon her. She flew past me towards the bark of the tree: a minute light among the tangle of branches. It took her a few moments to travel to the base of the tree, which she flew up until she had neared the centre of the trunk. I noticed, then, a ledge that jutted out from the bark, almost like a benchmark in the bark itself. Navi hovered above the outcrop, a glowing jewel against the russet wood. As I stared in amazement, I watched as the face of the bark began to transform before my eyes. Hollows began to take shape upon the wood, curving and bending into almost humanlike qualities. I shook my head disbelievingly as I watched the Deku Tree's mouth and face come to life. The ground quaked below my feet as the ancient wood groaned and the tree began to move. A soft breeze blew through the grove, tickling the leaves upon the branches overhead and rustling them in soft gossip. My eyes remained fixed on the sight as words formed upon the mouth of the tree and he began to speak.

"Oh Navi," he spoke in a deep, booming voice that rapped my teeth against my skull. "How late you have returned! I had begun to fear the worst: that you had failed me in such a grave hour-"

"Never, master." the fairy piped, fluttering her wings respectively. "I regret that we did experience a bit of a... delay."

"As is expected in such times," the tree proclaimed. "Although, I must say that your return past the hour of the moon was something that did go unexpectedly!"

"My apologies," the fairy replied. "Your guarder of the grove is the one to blame for such tardiness. I am sorry to say that he is the cause for many an irritation in today's retrieval of the boy."

"That I have expected." the tree heaved a sigh that shook the grass around me in a quiver. "But such things are in the past now. Tell me: where is the boy?"

"He stands before you, oh Great Guardian of the Forest, as is suitable to humbly solicit your respect. What is your wish for him?"

"Ah, child Link!" the tree bellowed heartily, ignoring Navi's query and turning his deep gaze upon me. A cold lump formed in my throat as he addressed me, and my body instantly tensing in alarm in response to his joyous tone. I did not have the time to respond to him before he spoke again.

"You are smaller than I had imagined!" the tree laughed. "My eyes passed over your small figure when you arrived! Please, come closer so that I may view you in full." I nodded respectfully as I attempted to move unsteady legs. I took a few steps towards the tree carefully so that I stood in view of his stern gaze. His eyes were old and withered, crinkled near the edges as he stared.

"Welcome, child." the old tree said. "I thank you in this grave time for the toils you have undertaken in order to meet with me today."

Still too overwhelmed to form words, I nodded my head towards the tree in response. Immediately, the tone of the words laced upon his next breath turned graver and his face hardened as he continued.

"Time is of the essence." he said. "We have not the moments for petty chatter and harmless conversation. With every moment passing the night grows darker. Shadows descend upon this land more swiftly than ever before: verily you have felt it." I nodded again.

"I am certain that your slumber these past moons has been restless... The nightmares hidden amongst the twilight cannot be denied, for I have felt them as well. As the servants of evil gain strength, a vile climate pervades the land and causes nightmares to reach those sensitive to it. There is no need to confirm these observations..." The tree heaved as I opened my mouth to tell him of my dreams during the past week. "...for I have foreseen that such things should come to pass..."

"But other strange things have occurred as well, great Guardian." I spoke suddenly, my voice sounding frail and small compared to the great tree's. "Peculiar forces that have drawn me to unexpected places this past week, and even today..." With quick hands I reached towards my belt and pulled my sword from the scabbard that was held securely there. It glistened under the stars and seemed to glow faintly in the pastel moonlight. The tree heaved a sigh in reaction to my movements, not seeming to be surprised at the sudden appearance of the ancient weapon.

"I wish that we had the luxury of time to discuss such things," the tree spoke regretfully. "However, there are more urgent situations at hand that need our immediate attention."

Despite the respectful sensation that came over me when I had first stood before the great tree, I then felt the anger within my body abruptly rise. I had spent many long years waiting for answers to many unexplained questions from the tree: I had waited for this very moment for as long as I could recall in my memory. Was it too hard to give an explanation for some smaller things? I didn't know if I could handle more waiting. With a look of bitter disappointment displayed upon my face, I returned the sword to my belt in finality. I returned my eyes to the tree unwillingly, and saw that his face was grim with an expression of regret and deep sorrow.

"I am very sorry Link that such things have been kept from you for so long an age," it said "but the hour is very late at hand. Immediate action must be taken in order for such things to be given the time to be explained in full." The tree sudden closed his eyes sadly and heaved a long sigh. I waited patiently for him to start again, completely unaware of the grave words that he was about to recite.

"I have been cursed." the tree said. Instantly, my body tensed in reaction to the statement and my eyes widened in shock. A cautionary worry began to flare up within my body; I could utter no words as the tree began to speak again.

"I regret to ask something of you that is of upmost importance," the tree said. "I have already asked so much of you... but I fear that my time to live is very limited without aid." It didn't wait for an answer from me, but instead continued quickly in a more urgent pitch.

"It is your courage that I require for the curse inside of me to be broken." he said. "With your newly acquired sword and shield for protection I ask a task of you that none other in this forest would be able to undertake..." The tree turned his questioning gaze upon me.

"Link, do you have courage enough to accept this task that I ask of you?"

The question was not really a question at all, but a plead as he addressed me, his voice desperate and in need of help. I took no time to think before answering him.

"Yes, great Guardian."

The tree's grim expression quickly turned to one of relief and admiration as his firm gaze pierced my eyes.

"You truly are the bravest I have known in many long years of life," he stated. "If you are to accomplish what I ask of you, I will forever be indebted to you. However, it is not my place to allow you to start this task without the proper guidance..."

It was then that the tree turned his gaze from me to Navi. I soft smile played about my lips as I noticed her shocked expression.

"Navi the fairy," he addressed her expectant face. "It is now that I must ask something of you that I did not originally intend..." The fairy's widened eyes and furrowed brows displayed her obvious apprehension.

"I ask you to accompany Link as he strives to complete this task, and to provide him with the knowledge and wisdom that I know you possess."

She shot a quick glance my way, and despite myself, a laugh escaped my lips. Her embarrassment was evident in the growing flush of her cheeks. She did not pause or hesitate to answer, but did so in a heavy sigh that she made no effort to conceal.

"Of course, master. Although..." she shot a sharp, menacing glance my way. _You're dead._

"...I do not go with the boy willingly."

"It is decided, then!" The tree spoke with an easy laughter upon his breath that made light of the situation. My mood instantly brightened in response to his positive notions.

"Link will go, along with Navi's aid and wisdom and rid me of this terrible curse. I must thank you now for agreeing to aid me in my time of need."

I was surprised at my sudden urge to bow. I inclined my head respectfully and the sword at my belt clinked softly as I moved.

"It is an honour, Great Deku Tree," I said.

"Ah, so the boy does have some manners after all!" The tree bellowed with laughter. Embarrassed, I blushed and glared at Navi, who giggled mockingly from high up in the tree.

"Ah, but it was not Navi who has revealed such things to me!" he crowed in response to our futile exchange. "Do not think that I have been idle these past few days as you have struggled! No, I have been watching, silently and secretly though it seems... but I have known of your ways for longer than you may realize..." His words unexpectedly sent a chill down my spine. What exactly did the tree know about me? It was surely more than I knew about him. But I hadn't forgotten the questions that I still longed for answers to.

"But come!" the tree spoke suddenly, in a heartier tone. "It is not the time to speak of such eerie things! Too long we have stood here. Tell me, swordsman, are you well equipped for this task that I have appointed you to?"

I nodded quickly in response, attempting to collect my racing thoughts.

"Then it is time for the pathway to be opened: the night is already beginning to grow late."

My eyes rose to the sky for a brief moment at his words. Sure enough, the moon was beginning to fade, and a morning glow crept high over distant hills. My gaze grew resolute as I returned my eyes to the tree, surprised to find that it was gazing back at me sternly.

"There is a great determination that I see in those eyes, Link," the tree spoke. "You are well to be the one to save me from the darkness I have befallen. I am pleased that you are the undertaker of this immense task. Remember: have courage! Go forward with bravery! The road may be long and rugged, but I am confident that you will not perish. Your spirit is strong enough to withstand the very iniquitous of forces. Go forward with haste, and do not delay, for I fear that I may not have much time left.

I nodded quickly in the conclusion of his words. Absentmindedly, I grazed my fingertips over the rough leather handle of my sword as I began to walk towards the tree.

"And where is it that I must go for this task to be accomplished?" I asked.

"The way lies before you, though not where you would expect it. I will show you, but with warning: the path may be unexpected. But do not fear, for I have faith in you, my child."

Suddenly, a great rumbling could be heard throughout the forest, stealing away into the night. The ground beneath my feet shook violently as a great alcove began to form in the Great Tree's bark. The noise grew louder as the gaping hole in the bark widened. After a few moments, the tree had nearly transformed, to my disbelief. There stood, almost as if reaching to the very inside of it, a cave like opening in which I could see nothing but a long, dark chasm of unfamiliarity.

My sudden apprehension was not masked from the gaze of the Deku Tree. His eyes darkened as my steps faltered.

"Have courage, my child."

My eyes didn't find comfort in him, but in Navi. I was relieved to find that her expression was completely devoid of all of her hastiness from earlier. Instead, she gazed at me with her deep, blue eyes and nodded in encouragement. She began to move her wings and flew down towards me from the ledge in the tree to graze my shoulder softly. Her eyes bore into mine in a look of fortitude, loosening the last of my doubts. It seemed as though a fire flared up in me in sight of her expression, and I turned my hardened gaze back to the awaiting tree in a silent resilience.

The tree's eyes curved upwards in a smile as he spoke to me a final time.

"It seems that no words can describe the bond between you two, Link the Kokiri and Navi the fairy. Although you have both seen many hardships, you still manage to stick together to the end." As we both began to blush the tree laughed.

"Such innocence I see in both of you! All I can advise now is to retain your bond once you step forth to face this darkness, and not let it fray until you submerge from it. For it is not individually that this task will be fulfilled, but together in a spirit that acts as one. It is only then that the light will triumph..."

We nodded together as we moved closer to the gaping, black hole.

"Go fourth my children! Should you find a light that prevails within the darkness in the force of courage and wisdom. May the goddesses guide your way in the quest for truth! And do not haste, for my time is growing shorter as the mornings grow dimmer."

The blonde of my hair and the spark of the fairy beside me were engulfed in shadow as we descended from the starlit clearing, the final plunge into a world of shadow.

* * *

Mido heard the rumbling. Well, not so much _heard _as _felt_. Although it came from rather far away, the great trembling in the earth found its way to him in a rattle from the Sacred Grove, shaking him awake from a light slumber. He snorted as the tremors rolled him over on the sweet grass, blinking the sleep from his eyes in confusion and fear. He was silent as he listened tentatively for another sign of struggle from beyond. All was utterly still. The moon faded above him in the sky, a pastel glow that overlooked the peaceful forest. There was no wind to rustle the leaves in the trees, no whisper from the gurgle of a nearby stream. The emptiness of the night rang throughout his ears in a hollow subtlety.

His skin crawled in response to the silence. It made him uneasy, as if things were wrong and disturbed. With an urgent glance around him, he crept to his feet and began to walk quickly underneath the canopy of leaves and into the forest leading to the Sacred Grove. The moon above his head dissolved behind a whisp of cloud as he walked, a darker shadow crossing his tight face. Ivy wrestled in tangles above him, blocking the last of the painted night sky, and entwined down the bark of the trees surrounding his silent figure. They seemed as though to be the blockage of some cruel, subsequent jest that taunted him throughout the uneasy night.

* * *

**A/N:**

It might surprise some of you to know that I listen to classical music on a regular basis as well as my usual Alt. Rock/ Alt. Indie junkie stuff, which is precisely why this week's playlist is made up entirely of classical and/or contemporary pieces. I find the Swan Lake Suite to be significant in this week's chapter (If you take a listen to it while reading, it really fits while Link is greeting the Deku Tree), as well as Moonlight Sonota as Link and Navi are walking through the silver forest leading to Sacred Grove. It is a gorgeous piece that I think matches the melancholic theme of that particular forest. I also just recently discovered the Full Metal Alchemist Soundtrack (fantastic), so I decided to put some of that on there.

So, yeah. Enjoy the chords of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky!

Yeah, yeah I know I've missed two updates (or is it three now? Who knows...) but you know what? Life happened. In the form of track, speed skating camps and summer training. It wasn't as if I wasn't writing, it just took me a bit longer to get this out to my editor, but now I'm back on schedule with my personal writing routine and I should be able to get Chapter 8 out by Sunday next week.

So sorry if anyone was around waiting for this. Not that anyone actually reads these things, but anyway.

Thanks for reading, thanks to my editor for putting up with me and I'll see you all next week.

_-Jellisoup_

_P.S_

**Thanks to reviewers** _Artsysoul, Eclipse Storywriter, IasWraith, Neo Lady Sakura, Fenrir Riku, iCards, fragmentsofmemories16, savinglifelessness, jeumaitre _and_ Jocydancer_ for all of the wonderful reviews! Thanks so much you guys, your feedback makes this all worthwhile! ^_^

**~Playlist~**

**Clair de Lune**- The APM Orchestra

**Love Theme**- Craig Armstrong, from the _Romeo and Juliet_ Original Soundtrack

**Moonlight Sonota**- Beethoven

**Swan Lake Suite**- Tchaikovsky

**Nocturne for Violin and Piano**- Frederic Chopin

**Mortality**- _Full Metal Alchemist_: The Anime Original Soundtrack

**Song of Healing**- Koji Kondo, The Legend of Zelda, _Majora's Mask_

**Concerto for Oboe and Violin**- Vivaldi

**Air on a G String**- Bach

**Final Fantasy VII Main Theme (piano)-** Nobuo Uematsu

_*Full credit goes to the musical artists/whoever makes this music. You guys are awesome. Many thanks for providing inspiration.*_


	9. Strength for the Faint of Heart

Chapter 8: Strength for the Faint of Heart

"_I would hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to tell, to march, to fight, to create a sense of hunger for life that gnaws in us all.__"_

**-Richard Wright**

* * *

**_.·´¯`·- Part 1_**

* * *

As we entered the polluted air seemed to stretch before us, never breaking or changing as we made our way forward. The air was thick and heavy, and as my eyesight began to fail it began to overwhelm my senses, numbing them considerably, until my entire conscious seemed to drift away from me. I reached my hands out to graze the walls of the tree blindly and attempted to continue directly forward. Cold, hard wood caressed my fingertips as I felt my way along at an alarmingly slow rate. The faint glow of Navi's skin was the only relief within the long darkness; she only weakly glowed and flew ahead of me as far as she could in an effort to allow more light for me to use to see. We made our way along the passageways, turning this way and that, unable to keep track of where we were going. The walls began to thin as we continued forward, and after what felt like a lifetime walking in the shadow, weariness began to overcome me. I dropped to my knees in fatigue, the depressing light of the air heightening my negativity. Navi flew forward for a moment after before noticing my absence from beside her. I stared despairingly as she floated down towards the skin of my bleak face.

"You look exhausted." She said.

I glowered back at her half-heartedly. I couldn't find the energy to form a wilful retort.

The fairy's glow softened as she floated down to my feet in defeat. She rested upon the leather of my boot, staring into my disheartened eyes with concern.

"Come on, Link-"

"I don't know if I can do this anymore," I interrupted her abruptly. She stared at me with a disbelieving face for a moment before rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"Are you serious?"

"Why?" I asked suddenly, ignoring her hastiness. "Why does it have to be me?"

"Because," the fairy returned her eyes to me carefully. "He _believes_ in you."

"_It's_ a tree."

"_It _has a spirit that trusts you with its own life."

I broke my stare from her and began to eye the ground stubbornly. She sighed and continued to beat her wings again, flying up to where she could meet my gaze.

"I know this is hard, Link..." She said, and her unexpectedly encouraging tone surprised me. "...but you alone were chosen to complete this task. Someone else has put their own faith upon you and asked for your help: why? Because you can achieve what no-one else in this forest can." I stared at her without response as she continued.

"You found an ancient blade that has been hidden in the very depths of this ancient forest for years." She said. "You learned to use it efficiently within a day. You managed to leave your own doubts behind this morning and follow me away to a place that you were unsure of. You left behind your best friend to allow yourself to follow your own destiny..." My spirits rose and my eyes widened as she spoke. Her voice gained strength with every word of her speech.

"...but despite everything, you accepted to use the best of your abilities to help the Guardian of the Forest. You knew that this would be a challenge when you accepted._ I _knew this would be a challenge. But still, we merged into the darkness of this place because we had the will to do the right thing, because we truly wanted to help, and because the Deku Tree put our well being before his own life..." She looked away from me for a moment and I saw that her eyes were vast and thoughtful, in a place seemingly miles away from me.

"It's just as he said: '...retain your bond once you step forth to face this darkness, and do not let it fray until you submerge from it. For it is not individually that this task shall be fulfilled, but together in a spirit that acts as one.' Together we _are_ that spirit. Even if we turn back now, we will have failed this task together. But if one of us falters along the way, the other cannot go on, because we can't beat this-" She suddenly turned her encouraging eyes to me and motioned her wings towards the air around her. "-unless we are together. I can't go on without you, Link, and I'm not letting you turn back. But then again, if you decide to stay right here and not go on, we may have a bit of a problem."

I was silent for a moment. I never would have imagined that Navi had the ability to speak so passionately of me.

"Did you just..." I spoke quietly.

"...compliment me?"

The fairy's cheeks turned a deep crimson and her next words came in a sputter.

"Of course not! Well... yes, but... no! Are you even listening to me?" I laughed as she mumbled incoherently and got to my feet. I brushed the dirt from my pants and attempted to rub the weariness from my mind. When I had finished to my best degree, I turned to the fairy slowly and spoke.

"Stay close to me for a bit, okay?" I asked rhetorically, tapping my shoulder expectantly. She nodded as she flew towards me, resting on the garment of my clothing that fell about my shoulder. With determined steps I began to walk at an easy pace into the darkness, the light of the fairy and the brush of my fingers along the walls leading me along.

We didn't speak for another while until, eventually, I whispered to her from somewhere within the emptiness of the air.

"Navi..." I said.

"...thank you."

The fairy's smile was invisible as she spoke a light reply.

"You're welcome, Link."

It was in that moment that I realized that, even within this dark place that we were both unsure of, we were safe. We were together.

From somewhere far behind us, a faint slithering went unheard by the two of us: an invisible crawl that came and went, unseen and unnoticed in the heavy shroud of darkness.

* * *

Eventually we came to a fork in the path before us, a place where another route could be taken in alternative to the one we had passed to reach it. I stopped where the two ways interjected within the wood, and watched as Navi floated from my shoulder and into the air, an orb of radiance in the stared pensively at the two routes for a few moments before turning to me in question.

"Which way do you think?" she asked me.

"I don't know," I said, stepping forward to inspect both ways more carefully. I brought my fingers to my lips in concentration, frowning at the dim atmosphere that hindered both ways.

_Wait a second..._

"Hey, Navi, do you see that?" I questioned while staring down the direction leading to my left.

"No, where?" She asked, flying closer towards me. Suddenly, an expression of delight crossed my face and my feet began to lead me down the passage.

"What? Hey! Link, wait up!" The fairy cried from behind me as I my steps accelerated to a jog, and later an impulsive sprint. I didn't look behind me as I ran, now panting, with my eyes fixed straight ahead of me.

"There's a light!" The cry tore from my lips enthusiastically and echoed off of the narrow walls surrounding, growing larger and giving me more room as I ran. The light before me was soft, but it flared thickly, flickering in orange bursts that licked away the shadows surrounding it. As I drew closer, I noticed more details in its shape and the small bundles of objects that were placed around it. After another few moments of running, I stopped and drew my hand forward to finger the carved metal. It was a crudely made torch with a metal base that drew itself up to a height that rivalled my own. In the centre of the blackened cage a strong fire burned and lapped, drawing back the shadows that had haunted me in my way reaching here. My eyes brightened and rekindled under the fire's sultry gaze, with my determination from earlier returning. It took no longer than a few moments for Navi to catch up with me, heaving for breath after her quick flight. I gave her time to recover as my eyes searched the bundles at the foot of the torch.

"You really need to stop doing that." She breathed.

I chuckled darkly.

"Maybe you're just out of shape." I retorted.

Her calm shade instantly morphed to an ignited one that matched the fire beside her, but she made no reply as I knelt down beside the bundles and began to search through them. The objects were covered with a thin, damp blanket that was old and faded. Inhaling in anticipation, I withdrew the cloth from overtop the articles underneath and eyed them with careful thought. A smile swept across my face as I reached trembling fingers towards the itemsin relief. I could hear Navi's fluttering wings beating faster from beside me as she hovered down to view the things in amazement.

"Lanterns," she stated.

My grin grew wider as I held one of the lamps with a delicate hand.

"Looks like we'll be able to beat this after all," I said.

Just then, I heard a devious rustle echo from further down the tunnel behind us. My eyes narrowed into the shadow as I dropped the lantern carelessly. A hand whipped to my belt just as something hurtled out towards us from the gloom.

I couldn't tell what it was before it came crashing into me, knocking me off of my feet and onto the hard ground. A cry tore from my lips as I withdrew my sword and shield and attempted to kick the thing off. It hissed hungrily as I managed to heave it off of me and it tumbled to the ground away from us. My breath was short as I got to my feet and eyed the figure of my attacker.

Its mouth looked like that of a shell, with a long snarling vine attached to it, writhing along the floor like a snake. It had a set of massive, dangerously pointed teeth that protruded from its mouth crudely, painted in a rotting shade of crimson. It was a deep blue in colour, but somewhat ridged, with protruding veins that throbbed out from its skin. Its tongue was long and tick and dripping with saliva as it crawled back towards me with intense, famished eyes**. **My grip tightened on my sword as I brought the blade before me, adrenaline rushing through me in a surge. I faintly noticed Navi hovering above me before she whispered sharply in my ear.

"It's a Deku Baba." I listened as she hissed, keeping a watchful eye on the thing as it slithered towards me, the light of the fire reflecting off of its glistening red eyes.

"Hit it with your sword when it lunges at you again and it'll stand upright," She whispered as the haggard breath of the Baba grew louder. "Then, slice it again across its stalk." She flew higher above me and spoke again in a louder voice, more urgent directly as the Baba leaped towards me again.

"And do it quickly, or it'll spray toxic gas!" My face tightened in a fierce reply as the teeth of the Baba leaped towards me again and clamped fiercely around the sharp metal in my hand.

* * *

The sprouts heard the sounds. They recognized the noises of desperate commotion, despite how long it had been since they had come into contact with any Kokiri. They could hear the cries of battle and the snarls of the attacking Deku Baba as they rang clearly throughout the base of the hollow tree. Rustles could be heard from the depths of the shadows behind them as deadly beasts and creatures awoke from a long slumber in response to the commotion. Quickly, and in short tones, they spoke among one another until a new accent sprang from beyond - a sound that none of them recognized. The crash of metal upon wood was heard by all throughout the tree, awakening many as pairs of glistening eyes appeared from the depths of black. Directly after, the group of sprouts moved in a dense pack among the shadows, their eyes glistening in curiosity and ferocious defence, headed towards the source of the unnatural noise.

* * *

The blood of the creature was a light, sticky green – unlike any that I had seen before, however still sending ripples of sickness coursing throughout my body. I stared in amazement at the smeared remains of the Baba covering the floor surrounding my feet, a short brown stick laid upon my bloodstained hands: a trophy reminder of the creature that I had slain. Nausea threatened to spill from my lips the longer I kept my eyes upon the mess of what remained of the struggle. The glow of the fire seemed to fade as the tone of death hindered about the corridor. After another few moments of silence, I managed to find my voice again.

"It's... dead." I spoke faintly.

Navi's breathing was the only sound that could be heard for moments, besides the slow dripping of blood that pulsed upon the floor in time to my heartbeat.

"Yes-" She spoke finally.

We both said nothing for a long time, only listened as the blood pattered upon the floor ominously. We must have stood for at least ten minutes before Navi addressed me in a whispered hush.

"We're going to get through this together, okay Link? We're going to stick together..."

"Yeah." I replied.

"We are,"

I couldn't help the vomit from boiling up from my stomach and spilling out of my throat onto the rigged floor, the drip of blood finally calming to silence.

* * *

Less than a minute afterwards, after I had calmed my body efficiently enough from the shock of the kill, we left the area behind, taking two lanterns burning in flame along with us. The light helped us to navigate the rest of our way through the darkness of the corridor as I held them in both hands before me in a grim motion. Even as we left it behind, the bloody memory of the life that I had silenced haunted me endlessly.

Eventually, the walls around us began to widen further and we came upon an open room, seeming to be the hollowed out trunk of the great tree. I held the lanterns above my head in an attempt to see the roof of the tall trunk, but could see nothing against the lapping shadows licking the branches of greenery near the top.

"Where do you think we should go?" I asked Navi, my voice coming out louder than I expected due to it echoing in the hollow bark. Very faintly, I could hear the scuffling of many feet against the wooden floor, causing my body to stiffen in response.

"I'm not sure..." The fairy replied, flying ahead of me up into the air. My eyes glanced about me in nervous apprehension as she flew; all was now silent and I was beginning to think that my nerves were getting the better of me.

"I don't think there's anything up here!" The fairy shouted from somewhere high above me, causing my muscles to relax for just a moment. Suddenly, I heard a scream, sending a ridge of shivers down my stiffening spine. She came hurtling towards me out from the darkness, zipping behind my back immediately. My feet shifted into a stronger stance as she shivered in fear from behind me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Spiders-" She hissed in a nervous tone.

I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped from my lips. It felt good to laugh, easing my fears and nerves in a way that felt almost foreign after today's past events.

"Spiders?" I questioned her disbelievingly.

I felt her nod and bury herself into the clothing on my back.

"Aw, come on Navi, they're not _that _bad!" I laughed as I reached behind my back and pried her off of my clothes. She yelped as I brought her before my eyes. She looked utterly distraught.

"You okay?"

She nodded stiffly and as I let her go, she began to beat her wings again, hovering before me although her eyes still darted about her in worry. I looked away from her and began to study the room again with observant eyes.

It was only then that I noticed the pair of red eyes, very faintly, glowing from about a metre away in the darkness. My body went cold as I noticed two more pairs appear from the dusk. With a lump in my throat I reached out a hand and motioned for Navi to turn around. I could hear her gasp as she did so.

My heart raced as dozens more sets of eyes blinked back at me from the shadow. Their eyes were narrowed in hostility and set with furrowed brows. With slow movements I turned my head towards Navi and spoke in a low voice.

"Start walking-" I said while inching my way farther back. To my horror, as we did even more eyes appeared until the whole wall before me was covered in a glittering red haze.

"On my count we run," I said then, my fear returning. Navi didn't reply, but I could see her face was bent in horror.

"1..." I spoke again, now very softly.

"2..." She added her voice to mine and we both tensed, preparing to bolt.

I didn't have the time to finish before I felt my boot catch on something behind me and I tumbled forcefully to the ground. The ruby eyes of the creatures were all that I saw before my eyes closed with a scream.

* * *

I must have woken up some time later, because it seemed like forever before I eventually opened my sluggish lids to a dark ceiling and a throbbing headache. I groaned as rolled my head sideways to see what was around me. My eyes instantly snapped open as I caught the eye of one of the creatures watching me. As soon as it saw that I was awake, it made a snorting sort of noise to signal the others of its kind. They surrounded me immediately before I had the chance to comprehend what was happening.

I sat up quickly, causing the pain in my temple to sear. I raised a hand to my forehead to try to release the pain. The things didn't move an inch around me, but instead watched me with sets of hard, staring eyes; after my headache has passed, it quickly dawned on me that Navi wasn't anywhere near me.

"Where is she?" I asked the things in a demanding voice. They didn't respond, but continued to stare, until I heard her cry come from somewhere behind me.

"Link!" she trilled, instantly flying up to greet me after my sleep.

"Uhg..." I groaned, her high pitched tone causing my head to flare up heatedly. "What are these things?"

"They're Deku Scrubs," she said, fluttering her wings about her. "They're pretty harmless, unless they're mad, which these ones aren't." I looked about me in apprehension. Their eyes shone bright red back at me.

"I don't know about that..." I spoke apprehensively.

"Oh, trust me," she proclaimed. "They would have attacked you already if they thought you were a threat. Shot nuts at you and stuff. Seriously, Link, they won't hurt you." She assured me as I gave her a disbelieving look. I shrugged after she spoke, and moved to stand up to full height, causing the scrubs to skitter backwards in caution. I was surprised at their sudden defence, and turned to Navi with questioning eyes.

"See?" she laughed. "They _are_ scared of you!"

It was then that one of the scrubs came into full view of the light given off by one of the lamps at our feet. This one was taller than the others, and had a darker shade of green leaves that surrounded its torso. It was embroidered with red feathers and flowers, an obvious sign of authority over the rest. Its eyes were faded, although the same shade of glittering red, as if in age. As it creeped up before me, it stared at me thoughtfully, before turning to Navi and speaking in a chattering sort of voice, seeming to be the language of the shrubs. Navi nodded as it finished, and turned towards me to explain.

"It says to not be afraid, that the shrubs only want to ask for help." She said. My eyes softened as I looked upon the pack again, seeing nothing but their glowing red eyes.

The leader-shrub began to speak again, addressing Navi, but glancing at me carefully from the corner of its eye. Navi waited for it to finish before speaking to me in a more excited tone.

"They say they know where the form of the creature that curses the tree is," she said. "And that they can take us there! Oh..." she paused again: the shrub hadn't finished speaking. "...but under one condition." Her tone deepened in response to the leader's words. I waited patiently as she listened again to the old shrub.

"You have to slay it." She spoke softly, after a pause, in a disheartened voice. Surprise flared through me as I listened to her words.

"It's a... _thing_?" I asked in wonder. Navi asked the shrub in its own language and it moved in a form of gesture that looked like a nod.

"Yes." She spoke in disgust. "They say that it's pushed them from their home further down the tree and has brought a lot of enemies within the tree along with it. Their food source has been cut off..." she said as she listened to the shrub again. "...and some of their own have gone to join with the new enemy. They speak really poorly of it... They call her 'Queen Gohma'."

"Queen?" I asked.

She chattered away to the shrub for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah."

I brought a hand to my lips in thought. After a brief interlude of silence, I voiced my answer.

"I'll agree to helping the shrubs," I said slowly. "But I won't slay this... _beast_."

Navi looked unsure as she turned back to the shrub and worded my answer in the strange language. The shrub eyed me before replying to her. Navi looked distressed as she turned towards me a final time.

"They say the curse won't be broken until the creature is slain." She said quietly, in a way that voiced her concern for me. I closed my eyes painfully as she spoke; I should have known. Absently I reached towards my belt where my sword hung. The blade was still quenched with the spill of fresh blood. I was afraid that further lives that I would take, beast or human, would haunt me for a long time, even if I ever got out of this foul place. I bitterly wished that I had never picked up the sword; it gave me the most unimaginably powerful feeling as I carried it, but the haunting knowledge that someone's life had come to an end upon it still burdened me in a heavy memory. I shifted my eyes to the blade for a brief moment, surprised to find that the taste of blood had made it look considerably younger, and the age of it far less noticeable. I closed my eyes in a sudden feeling of weak disgust. I still couldn't bear to look at the blood that lingered upon the metal.

Navi watched my reaction for another few, long moments before speaking in an encouraging voice.

"I know you can do this Link. I promise: we'll do this together. You won't be alone."

I looked at her with eyes darkened with sorrow. For once, I didn't feel the urge to object.

* * *

Once I had agreed to the shrubs' deal of fatal casualties, the pack lead us down another thin passageway into one of the roots of the trees that was nearly hidden in the blinding dim. Navi and I walked along in silence for another hour or so before we reached the end of the tunnel and descended further into an alternate root within the trunk of the tree. By the time we had reached the end of this final passageway, it had been around five hours since we had first entered the tree, and my eyes felt weak and sore due to the extended lack of sunlight. My legs were tired and feeble, and my concentration was diminishing due to lack of sleep. I felt more tired than I had ever before. I tried to put my mind off of how long ago Navi had come to my house to ask me to travel with her towards the Sacred Grove, and how comfortable my warm, cozy bed seemed far away from here, back home. I bitterly wondered if this was the form of "bonding ceremony" that Mido had talked about earlier. I could feel my mood worsening in the silent darkness as we trekked along.

Eventually, after what seemed like days of walking, we reached the end of the corridor and entered the base of the tree again, this time considerably farther down from our entrance point. From here, I couldn't see the roof of foliage that covered our heads. I turned to the shrubs quickly, unwilling to waste more time within this desolate place.

"Where do we go from here?" I asked, a little more harshly than I intended.

The shrub didn't reply, but instead motioned towards the centre of the tree. Impatiently, I began to walk quickly towards the middle, slowing down when I had reached the direct centre. I glanced around me in confusion, eyeing the strange substance that seemed to cover the ground in this area, weaving in a delicate pattern from the centre of the tree and groping the edges of the floor where it was wooded. As I eyed the material more closely, I came to realize that I was not resting upon wood, but a substance springier that caved due to my weight.

I turned back towards the shrubs in a huff.

"What is this?" I demanded. Navi shushed from somewhere behind me and began to flutter her wings in confusion. The slow, blinking eyes of the shrubs was all I could see, despite the glow of the fairy beside me.

Abruptly, I shifted my feet in irritation, and I began to take notice of the strange texture of the substance.

_It's... sticky?_

It was then that whatever held me up collapsed, and I fell with a shout into the gaping, black abyss.

* * *

All I noticed when I landed was the cold. I knew I was in water, because I was nearly drowning, and I tried my best at keeping my head out of it as I spluttered for air.

But the temperature was what got to me the most.

It was freezing: the kind of cold that seeped into your bones and made your limbs feel like they had fallen off.

As I gasped and attempted to tread water, I heard alternate splashes drop down from the roof above me in a quick frequency. Eventually, I saw scrubs that were swimming in front of me, heading towards a shoreline that I hadn't noticed before. As quickly as I could, I tried to follow their movements and reach land again and warm myself up. I didn't expect to feel so weak when I had gotten there.

There was a great branch that blocked the edge of the water from the rest of the room. This one was identical to the other floors above it, besides being surprisingly much lighter and airy. The air smelt of damp moss and rotting wood, but was not heavy as it was at higher elevation. The shrubs had begun to pack closely together behind the branch instead of scuttling around it to face the rest of the room.

Suddenly, I heard a light, chiming sound from behind me, and Navi was next to me, breathless in exasperation.

"Was that really necessary?" I asked, spluttering due to the traces of liquid and my pounding teeth.

"Not my fault." The fairy said. "I was just following the scrubs." There was a brief pause before I spoke again.

"I have a feeling that they're leading us astray," I mumbled, my mood worsening. Now I was not only tired, but wet and annoyed.

She didn't reply, but shot a disapproving look from beside me. I didn't meet her gaze as I peaked my eyes over the top of the log that stood before me. Beads of moisture dripped from the ends of my hair and ran along my forehead in a soothing pattern. Nothing moved, and all was still until the shrub that seemed to be the leader of the pack swam from the water to sit beside me. She looked at me with hard eyes while speaking softly to Navi.

"It says that this room is where the cave of the Queen lies." Navi said.

"So why are we hiding behind a branch?" I asked impatiently.

Navi and the shrub exchanged uneasy glances.

"Do you remember when I told you before that some of the shrubs had left the pack to join the Queen?" Navi spoke in a disconcerted tone. I glanced at her in question before nodding. She motioned her head for me to look overtop the edge of the branch. I did, and drew back a breath as I saw what lay in the room before us.

The light was brighter now, so I could see the outlines of the shrubs that covered the walls in a thick line of defence. Their eyes were as bright as the shrubs that I travelled with, but hardened in an even more hostile expression. They all looked the same: a never ending sea that stretched from end to end throughout the room. They were quite far away, so that they couldn't hear us as we dropped into the water earlier, but their eyes now searched the logs that we knelt behind with suspicion. Unease pierced through me as a set of eyes placed beneath the brow of one of the shrubs connected with mine. I ducked my head in immediate response with a lump in my throat as I turned to Navi again with widened eyes.

"Tight security." I choked softly. Her eyes were large and dark as she turned to the shrub to speak to it again. The shrub's voice was low and determined as it replied to her. Navi seemed to argue with it for a moment before turning to me with a sick look.

"It says that the pack will attack the mass number of the shrubs if you get through them to attack the three that protect the entrance to the cave."

The cold that I felt numbing my legs in the water spiked my brain as she finished. My eyes were furrowed in concern as I turned to the shrub.

"You don't have to do this," I spoke in a whisper.

As Navi translated the shrubs' eyes lightened in a weak smile and gave me a kinder look for the first time. She spoke gently to Navi with determined eyes.

"The shrubs have been run from their homes on this level of the tree and have been starving since the curse came," She spoke with wonder and sadness. "They are very desperate, and know that it would have eventually come to this."

I looked about at the shrubs that stood around me. They looked sick and weak compared to the healthier ones that guarded the queens. The leaves that surrounded them like a basket dropped and fell to the ground as they stood, but their spirits were high in a determined sense of finality. It was clear that they were ready to fight this intrusion that had harboured their tree, to the death, if it was necessary. Tears sprung to my eyes as I looked back at the frail face of the leader. The sickening dread that haunted me knowing that I had the ability to kill did not disappear as I looked at it, but rather softened as I saw the desperation of the shrubs. All of my former misgivings about slaying the Queen were numbed as I spoke to the shrub, my voice full of sorrow.

"I'm so sorry," I said as I reached forward suddenly, unexpectedly catching the shrub in a comforting movement. The shrub said nothing as I hugged it sadly, hoping to provide some comfort to its already disheartened spirits.

It was then that I heard the muffled sound of the leader speak, and I looked up towards Navi for a translation. Her face was grim as she whispered the words of the shrub in my own tongue.

"I'm sorry that it came to this." She said.

* * *

**_.·´¯`·- Part 2_**

* * *

I don't remember how it happened.

It was sudden, so sudden that I didn't know who had attacked me or when.

I just

felt my feet crumble beneath me and the floor that came towards my face to catch my fall.

I didn't open my eyes for a moment, partly out of weariness, but mostly out of reluctance to see the blood that had erupted about me. Instead, I squeezed my lids tightly, like a child afraid of a monster in the dark. Multiple blows connected to my body and knocked my around upon the floor like a doll. I did nothing to defend myself: I took the blows without struggle as I bathed in my own hurt.

I knew I had to get up. I knew that the shrubs had counted on me to reach the entrance of the cave, to help them beat the curse and end this battle. In an absent state I thought back to the words of my partner from earlier that day.

"_I know this is hard, Link... but you alone were chosen to complete this task. Someone else has put their own faith upon you and asked for your help: why? Because you can achieve what no-one else in this forest can..."_

Was this really something that was achievable?

Was this something I really _wanted_ to do?

I saw the furious eyes of the enemy that stood before me, I tasted the crimson blood that poured in droplets from my mouth; I heard the chaos that erupted around me, something that I began to realize was partly my own fault.

And it was in that moment that I knew my answer.

* * *

I saw him fall, the blood pooling from his body and below him onto the floor, the over towering shadow of the shrub that crawled before him to challenge the very breath that kept him alive.

I panicked as the thought connected to my brain. My wings fluttered faster and faster as I flew in and out of the fighting, snarling shrubs to reach him. My heart raced like it never had before: in fear and in fatigue, pulsating below my chest and my ears in response to my heightening panic.

The hot blood rushing through me turned to ice as the shrub raised his snout above scratched face in preparation to strike.

That was when the numbness came.

And I screamed his name. Over and over, to reassure myself who he really was, what he meant to the world.

_Link... Link..._

_LINK!_

* * *

Her cry was from far away, but it pulsated loudly against my ears like a drum, and instantly, it all came back to me. The sounds, the pain, the wetness of the blood that soaked my clothes. Instinctively I groaned, unwilling my senses to return. But they were there, and through them harboured the image of the shrub that hovered above me in a deadly position.

I felt, rather than saw, the heat pool below the surface of my left hand as it had earlier and the pain numb in the other parts of my body and travel to my hand. Although the feeling of ferocious venom made me writhe uncomfortably on the floor, causing the blood to shiver in the pool below me, it was slightly more bearable than before, with more of a dull ache to it rather than a shooting stab of fire. The light took a while longer to emit this time, giving the shrub more moments in which to finish me off.

But then, suddenly, it was there.

And it filled the room with a glow that was so unlike the kind that I had become accustomed to within the darkness of the tree. I squinted my eyes and couldn't see the shocked faces of the shrubs as they shrank away from the light in terror, scattering this way and that into the far shadows of the tree. As the fled, the painful heat that had penetrated my hand softened to a comfortable warmth that spread throughout my body, alighting a joyous grin upon my face. I didn't see or hear her until she came forward to hover in front of me, her soft body tickling the edge of my nose. My eyes opened slowly to view her expression that was crumpled in a sense of overwhelming relief. She didn't need to speak for me to hear her words: a wordless communication passed between us in a passionate voice that drew shivers through my body.

"_...it is not individually that this task shall be fulfilled, but together in a spirit that acts as one."_

I smiled weakly as my aching, tired limbs were eased by the warmth that spread throughout them.

"Don't leave me, Navi." I whispered softly.

Her smile was one that seemed foreign to me upon her, but surprisingly matched her face in an inerrable beauty.

"I won't," she said. "I'm here."

Together we stood up as the light in the room began to wane, dropping both of us into the irrepressible shadow that harboured our doubts.

* * *

The darkness was back, but now wasn't our biggest problem. The shrubs had vanished for the most part, scared away by the light that was now fading back into oblivion in my hand. The blood that had seeped from my open wounds had now, unbelievably dried: it seemed that the warmth that had spread throughout my body had had a sort of healing effect that had closed my exposed skin. I stared remarkably at my body in apprehension, anxious that my skin would split again right before my eyes. White, hot scars of papery tissue covered the places on my body where the wounds had appeared. I could sense that Navi's eyes were upon the scars, searching with as much concern as mine, almost as if she expected me to do something that would cause the scars to tear open again.

After a few moments of silence, she sighed and addressed me in the dark.

"Just be careful," She said.

I said nothing in response, but instead nodded my head in agreement, unseen through the shadow.

We stood still for another few moments of silence. Eventually, my words came to me in a soft, strained breath.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

She said nothing, but the answer was very clearly laid before both of us. We both turned our heads in the dark towards the cave that stood before us, now left carelessly unguarded by the fleeting shrubs. The silvery outline of the darkened wood that signified the entrance to the Queen's lair stood out in contrast to the dim colour of the air that hovered about it. It looked like spilled ink had seeped out from the depths, spreading like black veins among the healthier wood that surrounded the room. I shuddered as I stared at it, a strange, cold wind suddenly brushing against me from the shadowy depths. Upon the breeze an empty laugh – throaty and taunting – rode along the wisps of the chilled air. It came to me, running singular chills along my spine and causing my throat to dry. A deep, profound longing to run from the cave and withdraw back into the darkness of the hollow trunk suddenly overtook me then, and it took every bit of my effort to stay where I was and withstand the fear that entwined itself upon the air that hovered, too thickly, about me. My words came to my throat in a choke as I attempted to speak to the fairy that hovered absently beside me.

"Navi?" I asked, my voice shaking in an unexpectedly.

Her eyes met mine for a brief second – widened in a fear that tormented her expression as it did mine – when the rustling was abruptly heard by both of us from the depths surrounding the cave. With an uneasy curiosity, I began to walk suspiciously towards the source of the noise, my fear heightening with every step I took. My eyes widened in disbelief as my footsteps drew me closer to the entrance of the cave, and I saw the small, crouching figure that was the source of the strange noise.

A lone shrub was balled up below me, small but rigid in defence as I inched my way closer to it. As the distance between myself and it lessened, the shrub began to hiss dangerously, snarling and attempting to bite my heels when I stopped before it. Without words to say, I looked towards Navi helplessly. Her face was stiff as she spoke.

"It looks like it's protecting something,"

I instantly did a double-take and noticed that the shrub did look like it was huddled around some sort of object. I doubted that I could get any closer to it, as scared as it was of me, so instead I dropped to my knees and reached a tentative, gentle hand towards it.

"Do you have something there, little guy?"

The shrub snapped bared teeth at me, narrowly avoiding my outstretched fingers. My hand shrank back towards me immediately.

It looked so scared sitting there with that vicious look in its eyes, and young. It panted heavily as I stared back at it with a blank expression, my eyes sunken and devoid of any emotion. In an attempt to get away from me, the shrub suddenly began to drag itself towards the darkness that shadowed the farthest wall. Something was wrong: the way that it walked was more of a crawl, almost as it wasn't using its back legs. As I looked more closely at the shrub in question, I noticed the bright patch of red that covered the majority of its left leg. I suddenly reached towards the shrub again in awestruck horror, my fingers quivering desperately.

"You're hurt," I choked weakly. The shrub immediately turned around and spat at me again, causing my hand to withdraw back to my body a second time. A shadow crossed my face and my voice shook.

"I just want to..." The shrub snarled and cried out in sudden pain as it tried to crawl more quickly away from me. My face shook with grief as Navi's sympathetic voice came to me.

"Link..."

"I'm sorry-" I whispered, my head dropping to the ground. Unexpected tears now escaped my eyes and fell in a constant motion towards the earth.

"I'm so... sorry... so-" I couldn't stop the choke from rattling my words as my throat swelled and I began to weep. The wet tears were hot against my face, tense fingers gripped the solid floor below me. Time went by unnoticeably in the silent air, quenched by the sounds of my tears; eventually the liquid began to soak the fabric covering my knees as I gripped my body more closely around me. It seemed almost too much to face the world now, in this dark place where everything horrible lay in wait for me to discover. I was so tired of it all: the struggle seemed too much for some unknown reward. There were the answers, of course, but what could be told that I couldn't already find out on my own? Most I could infer on my own; I was different. Weird, strange, a freak. That would never change.

So what was the point?

Navi said nothing as my sobs echoed throughout the hollow room, gaining volume as they bounced off of the walls and back towards me. I didn't hear, didn't see as the shrub came towards me again. Its gradient stumble and gentle touch at my feet went unnoticed by me until my bleary eyes had cleared of tears. By the time the shrub had become visible through my eyes, its hunched form had already begun to disappear through the shadow by the edges of the farthest wall.

I swallowed, disbelieving, as I looked towards my feet where the shrub's object now lay; it was fashioned of smooth wood that brushed lightly against my skin as I picked it up. Two sticks held together by thick straps of leather in a Y shape, the object was heavy in my frail hands, a sign of obvious durability. There was a long, more elastic strap that was fashioned to each of its farthest ends with a pouch connected to the end. It was something that I had seen before in the Kokiri Store as part of the weapons sections in the back: a simple to use, but affective tool for hitting faraway targets that could not reached by manual weapons. A slingshot.

I could say nothing as I looked towards Navi in disbelief, the grogginess of my tears still having an effect on the comprehending abilities of my brain.

She spoke quietly as she tipped her wings to fly down towards me.

"It's what the shrub was holding," She gave me a hard stare when I still didn't respond to her before continuing.

"That shrub was guarding the Queen; I'm guessing that's what you'll need to defeat her."

My eyes threatened to spill again as I managed to choke wearily.

"Navi," I swallowed a deep lump in my throat as I attempted to speak coherently.

"I- I can't-"

"Link," she interrupted in a stern voice. "We've come so far, Link..." Her voice was low with underlying emotional stress. It seemed that she was trying to convince herself just as equally as she was me.

"We're almost done..." she mumbled weakly, and then more urgently as my gaze dropped from her to the ground. "We're almost there!"

I couldn't look at her.

"I can't do it-" I whispered, more to myself than anyone else. My voice sounded more desperate than I had intended, and it was clear that it reached her by her widened, disbelieving eyes. My limbs were numb, my head light and my hands scrambling below me as I tried to grasp words without fumbling upon my tongue.

"I can't..."

"Did you expect this to be easy?" she asked suddenly in a harsher tone. It wasn't really a question; I was silent as she continued without pausing for me to answer her.

"You can do this, Link. We can do this, together. We're here, right here, where we need to be. This is the final stretch... and then it's done. It'll finally be over." Her voice took on a dreamy, longing tone that surprised me then, her eyes rolling towards the ceiling as she began to imagine a better, happier time and place that I wished I could picture.

I was much too disgusted for that.

"And what do you think will happen after that, huh?" I spoke suddenly, my tone heightening with energy. "What do you think will happen to us? Do you honestly expect things to go back to the way they were?" I was angry as I rose my arm towards her, thrusting the face of my left hand towards her widened eyes. "What about this, huh?"

I didn't like the shock that covered her face then, but she had to know. She had to understand that things were different now. I was changed, and so was she, as long as we were bound together by fate.

Her eyes lowered from me and a shadow crossed her face. Her lips trembled as she spoke in a weaker voice, as if trying to gain control over a cruel sadness that was tearing her apart from the inside.

"I don't know," she whispered in a voice that I had never expected, or wanted to hear, coming from her. The bluntness of her answer scared me in a way unlike the terror I was surrounded by in this empty place; if she was lost, I was lost. If she had given up, so had I.

"I just want to get out of here." She said.

I realized then, the thing that I had heard all along but never really known: that the glue that held the two of us together was something that could not be broken by any monster or evil or darkness that inhabited this place or any that we could ever face, that the reason I was still fighting and hoping and trying to do the right thing was because I had her there with me. It was because she was everything that I was, and also everything that I wanted to be, and everything that I did not. She was myself in the form of another, because underneath our appearances we were both the same. We wanted the same things, strove towards the same goal of acceptance by those around us.

But it took me until then to realize that the acceptance that I really wanted, the other that I wanted there to tell me what I was thinking was normal, interesting and what she was thinking as well was within her.

She was right here with me: she always was, ever since that day many years ago when we had met and part of us became entwined within the other. She had led me all the way to this very spot, never failing, never wanting to turn back for the better of herself, always striving to reach the end of this journey with me right alongside her.

And so it was then that I looked at her with eyes masked by the hatred and suffering surrounding us within this place, but underneath shining with a new vibrance that helped me to pick myself up and stand to full height without the weight of uncertainty wearing me down.

And I reached out a single palm towards her, offering a bit of my strength in return for a bit of the load that weighted her down, a question of whether she would continue through this dark place together, just like she would have done for me. Because I couldn't do it alone.

Her twisted face did not change, but it was in the glimmer of hope and appreciation that shone deep below the mask of unhappiness in her eyes that showed me that she had accepted.

She flew towards me, and together we turned towards the cave to face this miserable world; the final showdown of light and dark.

It seemed to me, as the lapping tongues of air nipped at my cheeks and engulfed us in desolation, that a faint cheering could be heard from deep within the hollow corners of the tree, urging us forwards to face the monster that dwelled within the cave as the last stand against the darkness that dwelled like a sickness within this place.

•·.·´¯`·.·••·.·´¯`·.·••·.·´¯`·.·•

The castle was dim as the light outside began to wane. The princess was dressed in a nightly gown that she wore in slumber. Her hair was long and let-down, reaching her hips in a casual, yet elegant manner that fashioned the clothes that she wore. Her face was clean and slightly moist, due to the water that she had splashed upon her skin to cool before she travelled to her chambers for the night. She walked along the castle corridor, treading upon a red, thick carpet with light feet that were lain bare against the soft fabric. Her exterior was calm and serene as she walked, although she inhibited many feelings of unsurity and fear within the calm night. A shadow crossed her face as she strode, the fires alight in the candles upon the walls flickering in an attempt to overcome the darkness outside. Suddenly, from across the hall, another figure appeared and cast a shadow along the carpeted floor. The princess' face showed no response to the new figure, nor did her steps falter as she walked. She stopped, however, once she stood directly across from the shadow that crept towards her from across the carpet. She was silent and unmoving as the new body spoke.

"Have you spoken with your father of the issue yet?"

"No." The princess replied with slight hesitation.

The figure said nothing as she began to walk again. However, when she had reached the end of the corridor, where she turned to enter her bedroom, a dip in the shadow could be seen as the other opened her mouth to speak again.

"Do not be frightened, dear princess," it said. "For it is not to be feared, but understood."

The night was quiet as the candlelight flickered throughout the barren hall, a quiet testament to the emptiness of the world outside.

•·.·´¯`·.·••·.·´¯`·.·••·.·´¯`·.·•

* * *

**A/N:**

This one is kind of long, so I decided to split it into two parts. Read at your leisure; sorry if it is a bit tedious but I felt that everything was in here that needed to be.

On a slightly lighter note, I'm away from home for the next week, away from my editor. Her email is down so I haven't gotten this edited by her yet, but I did go through it quite a few times before uploading myself. I will give it to her to read next week: in the meantime, however, if anyone picks out any mistakes, if you could tell me where they are in a review that would be great.

Many thanks to everyone who has been reviewing, reading and supporting this story so far. It has turned out to be my most popular piece each week and is so much fun for me to write: I am truly honoured to have so many that enjoy it! Thank you, all!

So, how is everyone liking the story so far? Good, bad or ugly, please take the time to even jot down a few sentences as a review.

Hope you enjoyed reading!

_-Jellisoup_

**~Playlist~**

Hard (Feat. Young Jeezy)-** Rhianna**

Conspiracy**- Paramore**

Heartless (Kanye West Cover)- **The Fray**

The Bleeding Heart Show**- The New Pornographers**

Rescue Me**- Hawthorne Heights**

Leader**- Phantom Planet**

Hell**- Tegan and Sara**

Cute Without the 'E'-** Taking Back Sunday**

Loop & Loop**- Asian Kung-Fu Generation**

Hero/Heroine**- Boys Like Girls**

Famous Last Words**- My Chemical Romance**

Make Damn Sure**- Taking Back Sunday**

iViva la Gloria!-** Green Day**

_*Full credit goes to the musical artists/whoever makes this music. You guys are awesome. Many thanks for providing inspiration.*_


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